‘Everything was destroyed’: Lebanese mourn the destruction of century-old market after Israeli bombing

Some onlookers look on in horror at the damage caused by Israeli bombing to this Ottoman-era market. The attack occurred at 8:15 pm on Saturday, local time, 2:15 pm Brasília time, according to the official Lebanese news agency.

Tareq Sadaqa still can’t believe his eyes: “It’s as if an earthquake had leveled the market. Everything was destroyed, even the little bistro where we used to have breakfast in the morning,” he tells AFP.

The exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah, which began a year ago on the border, had not changed the routine in the commercial heart of Nabatieh.

However, the beginning, three weeks ago, of the Israeli ground operation in Lebanon left more than a million people displaced, mainly in the south of the country, a stronghold of the pro-Iranian Islamist movement.

Those who remained feared approaching Nabatieh in the face of incessant Israeli shelling. The characteristic hubbub of the market was reduced to silence.

“Nabatieh is like our mother”

Nothing remains of the labyrinth of clothing and jewelry stalls and small canteens, frequented for decades by shoppers near this town, just 13 kilometers from the border with Israel.