Rescuers pull 30 bodies from building in central Lebanon hit in Israeli strike Associated

Associated Press Barja (Lebanon): Lebanese rescuers pulled 30 bodies out of the rubble after a late-night Israeli strike on an apartment building in the town of Barja, Lebanon's Civil Defence service said Wednesday as the Mideast wars press on with no signs of abating. It remained unclear if there were any survivors or bodies still trapped under the rubble following the Tuesday night airstrike, which came without warning. There was no statement from the Israeli military and the strike's intended target also was unknown. Barja, a town just north of the port city of Sidon in central Lebanon, has not been regularly targeted so far in the conflict. “Something pulled me hard, and then the explosion happened,” said Moussa Zahran, who was at home with his wife and son when the building was hit.

He said he couldn't see but started digging through the rubble until he found his wife and son alive but injured and pulled them out. Both are still in the hospital, he said. Another building resident, Muhyiddin Al- Qalaaji, said he was at work when the strike happened and heard the news from his wife who called him frantically. "There are many dead and injured,” he said as he carried out what he could salvage of the family's belongings on Wednesday morning. Civil defence official Mostafa Danaj said some of the neighbours have reported there are still people missing. Israeli forces and the Hezbollah militant group have been clashing for more than a year, since Hezbollah started firing rockets across the border soon after the deadly Hamas-led attack on southern Israel sparked the ongoing war in Gaza in October last year. The war on the Lebanese front has substantially escalated since mid-September, with Israel launching a massive aerial bombardment and ground invasion. On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in a surprise announcement that sparked protests across the country. Gallant's replacement is Foreign Minister Israel Katz, a longtime Netanyahu loyalist and veteran Cabinet minister. While Netanyahu has called for continued military pressure on Hamas, Gallant said military force created the necessary conditions for at least a temporary diplomatic deal that could bring home hostages held by the militant group. The Israel-Hamas war began after Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people mostly civilians and abducting 250 others, taking them back to Gaza as hostages.