Israel bombs the heart of the Lebanese capital
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 18 March 2026
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Israel bombs the heart of the Lebanese capital as it escalates its offensive against the Iran-backed group Hezbollah. We hear from a former Lebanese health minister in Beirut and ask a former senior Israeli army officer about his country's aims. Also in the programme: anger and delight in African football after its governing body strips Senegal of the Africa Cup of Nations title and hands it to Morocco; and what is "Muskism" and how does understanding Elon Musk's approach to business help us understand the Trump Administration, and our changing world? We talk to the co-author of a new book on the billionaire.
(Photo: People stand amidst debris at the site of an Israeli strike, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, Zuqaq al-Blat district in central Beirut, Lebanon, 18 March, 2026. Credit: Khalil Ashawi/Reuters)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.8 | Hello and welcome to News Hour from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:13.6 | We're coming to you live from London. |
| 0:15.2 | I'm Leila Nathu. |
| 0:16.6 | We will start the programme in Lebanon, where Israel has repeatedly bombed the heart of the capital |
| 0:21.5 | Beirut as it intensifies its offensive against the Iran-backed group Hezbollah. |
| 0:26.8 | Here is the moment an Israeli airstrike toppled a building in the city centre. |
| 0:42.0 | Nishat-Berry is a captain with the Beirut Fire Brigade. |
| 0:46.1 | He spoke to journalists in front of a pile of rubble where the building used to be. |
| 0:58.3 | Today, Beirut is no different from the southern suburbs. A brutal enemy is waging war on Lebanon, |
| 1:05.2 | not distinguishing between civilians, Hezbollah members or the military. It has its objectives and is fighting to achieve them, striking wherever. As Hezbollah continues to launch rockets and drones across the border, |
| 1:14.2 | Israel is expanding its military campaign across Lebanon. |
| 1:17.7 | The Lebanese health ministry says more than 900 people have been killed so far, |
| 1:22.0 | including more than 100 children. |
| 1:24.3 | Our Middle East correspondent Hugo Pachega is in Beirut. |
| 1:29.1 | So I live just 10 minutes from the building that was attacked in central Beirut and I was woken up by the sound of a huge |
| 1:35.2 | blast and the windows of my flat rattled. So this gives you an idea of the power of this attack. |
| 1:40.6 | It happened at around half past five in the morning here. About an hour after the |
| 1:45.5 | Israeli military issued an evacuation order for this building on social media. There's no early |
| 1:51.7 | warning system here in Beirut, in Lebanon, no system to alert people that an attack is imminent. |
| 1:58.0 | And this happened in the Bashouda neighborhood in central Beir. So not in the Dahlia district where Hezbollah is based. And this happened in the Bashuda neighborhood in central Beirut, so not in the |
| 2:01.8 | Dahlia district where Hezbollah is based. And I think this is adding to the feeling that many |
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