The Moment a Bomb Struck Beirut: An AP Photographer’s Harrowing Capture

AP Photographer Captures the Moment a Bomb Hits an Apartment Building in Lebanon

On Friday, a bomb struck a multi-story apartment building in Beirut’s Tayouneh area, drawing hundreds of onlookers to the scene. Among them was Associated Press photographer Hassan Ammar, who captured the devastating moment.

The Targeted Building and Its History

The Israeli military, which had issued an evacuation warning and marked the building as a target, claimed it housed facilities belonging to Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group. For Ammar, however, the building had a more personal connection.

Growing up less than a kilometer away during Lebanon’s 15-year civil war, Ammar recalled the building as part of the “Green Line,” a front line dividing Muslim and Christian neighborhoods. Later in life, he visited the building frequently, either for errands at the notary public on the first floor or shopping at a neighboring sports supply store. The nearby cemetery also holds graves of Ammar’s family members.

“I know it very well,” Ammar said, recounting how he had once considered renting an apartment there for its stunning views of Horsh Beirut, a nearby park.

Capturing the Strike

When the bomb descended, Ammar had already positioned himself at a safe distance with his camera trained on the building. Using a long lens and a high shutter speed, he snapped a series of photos, documenting the bomb’s approach, its mid-air trajectory, and the ensuing massive explosion.

The impact left much of the building reduced to rubble, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

Analysis of the Weapon Used

Richard Weir, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, reviewed close-up photos of the bomb to identify the weapon. He determined that it was consistent with a Mk-84 series 2,000-pound general-purpose bomb equipped with a Boeing Joint Directed Attack Munition (JDAM) tail kit.

Weir warned about the risks such weapons pose to civilians, especially in densely populated areas. “The use of large, air-dropped bombs that produce wide-area effects carries significant risks to civilians and civilian objects,” he said.

A Broader Context of Conflict

This strike was not an isolated incident. Just weeks earlier, another AP photographer, Bilal Hussein, captured a similar bomb hitting a nearby building in Beirut. Over the past 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, more than 3,200 people have been killed in Lebanon, with women and children making up 27% of the casualties, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

The Israeli military maintains that it strives to minimize civilian casualties by issuing warnings before many of its strikes in Lebanon.

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