Visual evidence analyzed by The New York Times shows that nearby buildings were damaged in the attacks, which targeted Hezbollah’s leader. The extent of the destruction is not yet clear.
Satellite imagery by Airbus via Google Earth
Lauren Leatherby and Bora Erden/The New York Times
A New York Times analysis of verified videos, photos and satellite imagery shows that at least four residential buildings on one street were destroyed Friday night when Israel struck part of southern Beirut, targeting Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
Three of the buildings were completely flattened, while another collapsed, with the upper floors partly intact.
All four of the destroyed structures were residential buildings along the same street. Two neighboring apartment buildings that were at least seven stories tall were hit. About 100 yards away, two neighboring buildings that were also at least seven stories were also hit.
Footage recorded on top of the debris of a flattened building also shows significant damage to several surrounding buildings. The blasts tore the facades off the lower floors and blew out many of the windows. The strikes destroyed nearby vehicles and left craters in the streets about 700 feet away.
A video filmed during the strikes and posted on the social media app Telegram showed several distinct smoke plumes. An enormous cloud of smoke rose from the area of the four destroyed buildings identified by The Times, and one large plume of smoke rose from areas slightly to the east of the buildings. Multiple additional explosions can be heard and seen in the video.
The extent of the damage from the strikes was not yet clear.
Christiaan Triebert is a reporter working on the Visual Investigations team, a group that combines traditional reporting with digital sleuthing and analysis of visual evidence to verify and source facts from around the world. More about Christiaan Triebert
Devon Lum is a Visual Investigation reporter and a member of the 2024-25 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers. More about Devon Lum
Aric Toler is a reporter on the Visual Investigations team at The Times where he uses emerging techniques of discovery to analyze open source information. More about Aric Toler
Lauren Leatherby is a visual editor based in London. More about Lauren Leatherby
