As the IDF targets Hezbollah, the BBC visits the aftermath of an Israeli strike on Lebanon that killed a family.

 

The yellow flag of the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah was hanging on top of a pile of rubble (Image: BBC)

Warning - this article contains a graphic description of the aftermath of an explosion.

The BBC went to a house where a strike killed eight members of a family, including three children, as Israel continued to attack Hezbollah-related targets in Lebanon. The yellow flag of the Iran-backed armed group was hanging on top of a pile of rubble in the northeastern town of Younine.  Among the debris, there were sweets packets and toys for kids. "Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure while Hezbollah operatives were present," the Israeli military told the BBC. Neighbours and relatives at the scene said they had no knowledge of this.

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The strike hit a home and shop on Wednesday evening as an extended family, including three children - aged five, nine and 14 - were gathering to break the Ramadan fast, locals said.

 It is one of hundreds of strikes the Israeli military has carried out in Lebanon since the war with Hezbollah resumed almost two weeks ago.

 Most have focused on southern Lebanon, the eastern Bekaa Valley, and the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, known as the Dahieh - the heartlands of Hezbollah and of Lebanon's Shia Muslim community.  Some have even reached Beirut's center. According to figures from the Lebanese health ministry, Israel's military action has resulted in the deaths of more than 800 individuals. The public health ministry of Lebanon claims that a strike on a medical center on Friday night resulted in the deaths of 12 healthcare workers. The IDF stated that it was aware of strike reports and was looking into the incident. By broad Israeli evacuation orders, tens of thousands more people have been evacuated. Hezbollah is accused by Israel of encroaching on civilian areas with its military infrastructure. In Younine on Saturday, locals recalled the moment of the strike, which they said came without any warning.

Photo Curtesy: BBC

The BBC learned from a local shepherd that he had stopped by the store about 30 minutes earlier to offer the family yoghurt. After hearing the explosion, he rushed from his home to see the building had collapsed and there were body parts scattered along the road.  When emergency responders arrived on the scene, he gathered them up and gave them to them. "My kids and I were all terrified.  "I have no words to describe what I saw throughout the entire area," he stated. He claimed that his daughter had stopped eating and drinking properly since the strike because she was friends with one of the children killed in the strike. A Syrian woman who was living nearby in a tent said that she would see the family every day and depended on them to give her credit at their shop, which she had hoped she would repay after the war. She stated that she was still stunned. "I have no idea why they would be targeted because it all happened so suddenly, and all I know is that they are decent and religious." We are Syrian refugees so we stay in our lane and don't interfere in anything," she said.

 Items from the store, like yoghurt cartons and soda bottles, and household goods, like toys and clothes for kids, were buried in the rubble at the strike site. A framed photograph of Iran's first supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was partially covered in rubble.

Photo Curtesy: BBC

School teacher Hassan al-Tahan said the property belonged to his brother Ali Abbas, who had been hosting the Iftar meal for relatives at the time of the strike.

 He stated, "It was three [related] families having an iftar together... we always gather together and sit at each other's houses." "When I heard the sounds, I ran screaming to my house, which is nearby, and I saw something I had never seen before." There is a lot of support for Hezbollah in the area, and photos of its fighters and leaders are displayed on nearby streets. Tahan said that while people in the area were generally supportive of the "resistance" fighting against Israel, he insisted his relatives were all civilians, not Hezbollah operatives.

 "Israel attacked us because we are Shia, but we don't have any military equipment in the house." This community of resisters includes us. That's it," he said.

 "Israeli authorities assert that they struck a Hezbollah facility. The Hezbollah facility turned out to be this civilian home.  The Lebanese army came to inspect it and saw that there wasn't a single weapon here.  People of all ages, including kids, women, and men, were killed.

Hassan al-Tahan said his relatives were civilians and not Hezbollah operatives (Image: BBC)

Eight people were killed, according to the Lebanese health ministry, and a local official confirmed Hassan's claim that the Lebanese military had checked the area and discovered "no military items or weapons." Hezbollah has not commented on the strike, and the military did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment. "Takes the possible steps to mitigate harm to civilians and calls on them to distance themselves from the organization's terrorist infrastructure for their own safety," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told the BBC. It continued, "The IDF emphasizes that it operates against the terrorist organization Hezbollah, which launched attacks against Israeli civilians, and not against the civilians of Lebanon." As he spoke on the rubble of his brother's home, Tahan pulled a yellow Hezbollah scarf from his pocket and put it around his neck, saying that after this "painful incident" he would now be willing to fight alongside the group.

 "Even if we were not militarily affiliated before… From today, we are the soldiers of Hezbollah and proud of it," he said.

 After the strike, some people in the area fled in fear, and those who stayed tried to figure out what had happened on Saturday. "Is it acceptable that a young girl was slain?" the shepherd asked.  "If they wanted a specific person, why kill the rest?"

Source: BBC