Israel’s targeting of AQAH bank branches caused “widespread panic” in Beirut, says the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon.
In a post on X, external, formerly Twitter, Jeanine Hennis says there was a “brief window to escape to safety” after Israel issued warnings, adding that “intense blasts reverberate across the night sky”.
“With each day, Lebanon suffers more. But even amid the escalating violence, solutions remain available. If only opportunities would be seized,” she concludes in her post.
Footage elsewhere showed people fleeing central Beirut on foot or in cars. Some families said they planned to spend the night out in the open, and return home during the day.
Israel carried out more air strikes in Beirut and across Lebanon overnight, targeting branches of the AQAH bank.
Lebanon’s state-run news agency NNA reported strikes on the bank’s branch near Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut.
Until the strikes, at around 23:45 local time, the airport had been operating normally. A flight from Dubai, due to land at 23:59, arrived 17 minutes late.
