War in Lebanon Beiruts first responders on the front line DW Documentary

Daily airstrikes hit the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut. The Israeli military says they are aimed at destroying Hezbollah command centers and weapons storage facilities - located in a suburb, home to several hundred thousand people.

The Israeli strikes are also taking a growing toll on the civilian population, with hundreds left dead or injured, and around 1.2 million people now internally displaced. This film features firefighters and rescue workers belonging to a non-Hezbollah-affiliated civil protection organization. They put their lives on the line as they work around the clock - extinguishing one fire after the next and recovering the injured and the dead from the rubble left by airstrikes.

Whenever Israeli drones are seen approaching, they have to cease operations and seek safety. A team of journalists films the firefighters at work in the devastated southern suburbs of Beirut. The firefighters take them on their scooters to immediately document the damage inflicted on streets in a part of town considered a Hezbollah stronghold.

With camera crews normally prohibited here, the team follows doctors and first-responders as they see to the injured casualties. The film shows the widespread suffering among a civilian population living on the front line in the ongoing conflict.

Around 1,200 people in Israel were killed in the Hamas terror attacks on 7 October 2023. The Israeli leadership's war against the terrorist organization continues to this day. According to the Hamas-run health authority in the Gaza Strip, over 43,000 Palestinians have subsequently been killed there - over half of them reportedly women and children. Hamas is allied with Hezbollah, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the EU and has been launching almost daily rocket attacks on Israel for the past 12 months.

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