Beirut’s southern suburbs have been subjected to waves of airstrikes by the Israeli military, but it has been virtually impossible to document the damage they cause.
The area known as Dahiyeh, which consists of four densely populated districts adjoining the city centre, is simply too dangerous to access.
The sound of Israeli drones and fighter jets are a constant presence in the sky and plumes of smoke rise above this part of the city.
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We decided to make a trip to one of several large intersections that serve as gateways into Dahiyeh and informed representatives of Hezbollah, who effectively control this part of the city, that we planned to make a brief visit.
It presented an opportunity to assess the mood in a place being bombarded from the air – if not an opportunity to document the consequences.
On arrival, however, a local Hezbollah member wearing a full balaclava offered to take us to the nearest bomb site.
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Two minutes’ filming in the ‘red line’
He jumped on his moped and drove down the so-called ‘red line’, which effectively divides the city from the ‘no-go zone’ declared by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
We stopped in front of a vast city block that had been rearranged – and largely destroyed – by Israeli explosives.
“We’ve got two minutes, two minutes to film,” said our local producer as we jumped out of our van and into the dust and the acrid smoke that was blanketing the area.
You can see what we saw and experienced in our video above.
The IDF says it is targeting “executive council command centres” and “weapons storage depots” in Beirut’s southern suburbs, but Hezbollah told us the bomb site we visited was a popular local market.
With only a few minutes to film, our camera operator, Sam Williams, let his camera roll.
Exit blocked by Hezbollah
But on our return to the busy intersection, we found our pathway had been blocked.
There was another group of Hezbollah members who seemed unaware of our presence and suspicious of our activities.
They placed their motorcycles around our van in case we were minded to flee.
Hezbollah makes the rules in this part of Beirut, and there is a countless number of men who seem ready to enforce them.
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As our identities were checked and our journalistic intentions interrogated, there was a loud bang or blast not far from our vehicle.
It was not immediately clear whether it was a missile strike – or some sort of Israeli warning device – but it was a reminder that we were operating at the edge of the warzone.
After a tortuous few minutes, Hezbollah allowed us to leave and our driver steered the vehicle into the intersection. As we edged our way through, the black-clad militiamen pointed their rifles in the air and fired off a few rounds.
It was warning to all to clear the area.
