The missile descended from the sky, heading straight for a building. AP photographer Bilal Hussein took cover behind a large tree, training his lens on a building in Beirut, Lebanon, that the Israeli military had warned was about to be attacked. Moments later, a missile indeed fell, offering the perfect vantage point to capture the obliteration of the structure.
In a recollection shared with the AP, Hussein described the scene hours after the Israeli forces initiated their assault: “I heard the missile whistling as it flew toward the building, and then I started clicking the shutter.” His camera froze the moment in time, encapsulating the instant before the shell struck, providing a striking illustration of modern warfare’s incredible speed, power, and destructiveness.
According to an AP report, the Israeli military issued a warning in Arabic on social media today, advising residents near two buildings in southern Beirut to evacuate. The attack occurred roughly 40 minutes after this warning was given.
On-site AP reporters noted that just minutes before the missile decimated the building, the Israeli forces had launched two smaller shells at the rooftop. This tactic is commonly employed by the Israeli military to signal an impending attack, a method that has been used in previous conflicts, particularly during operations in the Gaza Strip.
This approach made the main missile’s trajectory less recognizable, but Hussein managed to document it all with his camera.
One striking photo captures the missile as it plummets from the clear blue sky, while another shows it poised to strike a low-level balcony. As the building crumbled, smoke and debris erupted into the air, illustrating the chaos that followed the impact.
