Airstrikes no longer halted…

3 a.m Beirut time – I can’t sleep. Not because I’m worried or scared, but because a goddamn drone is flying right over my house and making an annoying bzzzzz bzzzzz noise… Exactly like a fly trying to get in your ear. Go away already. What’s there to watch or hear here? Nothing other than the few stray cats that roam the streets, or – if you wait 2 more hours – the chirping of a bird at 5 a.m sharp. Lebanon should consider investing in SAMs.

Throughout the night reports were coming in about numerous Israeli attempts to land commandos near Ba’albak in eastern Lebanon. These were preceded by air raids on the areas around Ba’albak. The Lebanese Army AAAs failed a number of these landing attempts between Hadet and Ba’albak. Another attempt was made at nearby Nahle, north-east of Ba’albak, but it too failed. This was followed by an air raid on an Army base near Chlifa waterfalls north-west of Ba’albak. Another attempt was then made at Tal al-Abiad, and this is where HezbAllah fighters actually opened fire. In the meantime, air raids targeted Dar Al-Hikma hospital and its surroundings, which resulted in fires breaking out at the hospital (which housed many refugees and wounded civilians). This was followed by heavy battles around the area of the hospital, following which HezbAllah fighters were able to form a ring around the Israeli commandos, which is now being confirmed by Lebanese security sources. In the meantime the Army failed another Israeli attempt to land at Ain Bourday, just south of Ba’albak.

3:30 a.m – And if you’ve never heard the roar of an Israeli F-16 at 3:30 in the morning, you now have the opportunity to do so. Keep in mind that the sound was recorded using a regular microphone hooked up to my laptop, so you can imagine how loud the sounds of the jets are and how low they are flying over this (HezbAllah-less) region.