AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Lebanon has been under heavy Israeli bombardment for the past two months. Most of Israel's airstrikes have targeted Hezbollah strongholds in the country's south and east. But one of the deadliest hit Saturday in the heart of the capital Beirut, killing at least 20 people. Here's NPR's Lauren Frayer.
(SOUNDBITE OF FOOTSTEPS)
LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE: Like, two blocks from the wreckage, there are people with electricity still on, windows intact, kind of hanging out of their windows, looking at what's going on. But then you pass sort of a block later, and it's - there's a whole building that's gone. One of the buildings is sort of cut in half, like a dollhouse. You see a cross section of it. You see a stairway that's cut in half, sort of twisted rebar. Everything's sort of gone monochrome with the dust, but there's a pink scarf.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOTOR RUNNING)
FATIMA GHOUL: (Speaking Arabic).
FRAYER: Neighbor Fatima Ghoul was thrown from her bed by the 4 a.m blast. Years ago, she lived in the eight-story building that's now pancaked in front of us. She's only alive because she'd moved, she says. The building was residential, families. In fact, it was even more crowded, she says, with displaced people who'd fled bombing farther south.
ABBAS GHOUL: (Speaking Arabic).
FRAYER: Fatima's son Abbas interrupts. "Aren't you going to ask if Hezbollah was there?"
A GHOUL: (Speaking Arabic).
F GHOUL: (Speaking Arabic).
FRAYER: "Because they weren't," he says. Israel has already killed several Hezbollah leaders. Others are in hiding. "In our basement or on the roof," Fatima muses. She doesn't know. She's never seen them, she says. But memorial posters of slain fighters line the streets of this poor Shiite Muslim neighborhood, and someone has planted a yellow Hezbollah flag atop the wreckage.
(SOUNDBITE OF SIRENS)
FRAYER: There's about 50 people who have gathered at the side of the rubble here. There's a bulldozer on top of it. It feels like a silent vigil. Dozens of neighbors are still missing. The only business open is a candy store called Sugar Land.
SAFI AYYUB: (Speaking Arabic).
FRAYER: Behind the counter is Safi Ayyub with a kaleidoscope of florescent sweets and a harrowing story.
AYYUB: Since 4 in the morning, I work with the military soldiers and the people to help.
FRAYER: He helped dig for survivors through wreckage still burning. Five of his relatives live in the flattened building. None has been found. And as the sun rose, Safi stood back, walked over to Sugar Land, propped open the door and started giving away soda and sweets to confused children.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: (Non-English language spoken).
AYYUB: (Non-English language spoken).
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: (Non-English language spoken).
FRAYER: Outside weaving slowly through the soldiers, medics and mourners is an 85-year-old widower with a walking stick. Mohammed Ahmed Assif is an evacuee from the south staying here with his daughter. He doesn't want to talk about violence. He only wants to recite poetry.
MOHAMMED AHMED ASSIF: (Speaking Arabic).
FRAYER: "Tell my loved ones about me and my burdens," he says. "My land weeps over me." Lauren Frayer, NPR News, Beirut.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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