For the past month, Hussein Saleh has returned daily to a devastated piece of ground in southern Lebanon, searching through debris for any remnants of the eight family members he lost to an Israeli airstrike.
The 34-year-old man carefully combs through what remains of his former home in Tyre, hoping to discover small treasures that once belonged to his wife, daughter, and other loved ones who perished in the March 6 attack.
“Every day or two I come here, I check on things, I look around to find memories, to find a phone, to find anything that can soothe my heart and make things lighter,” Saleh explained.
The site offers few remnants of the vibrant household that once existed there: broken stones from his destroyed residence, metal fragments from the Israeli weapon, and a damaged book that had belonged to one of his daughter’s cousins.
“I feel the world is so hard, so cruel,” Saleh expressed, becoming emotional while speaking with reporters.
He recalled a modest dwelling that had been filled with activity, where his 5-year-old daughter Sarrah would play with her older cousins and help care for two young goats owned by his wife’s aunt.
However, on March 6, while Saleh was purchasing groceries, an Israeli missile hit his residence, killing his wife, daughter, sister-in-law and her spouse, their two children, and two of his wife’s aunts.
“I heard two strikes and my heart sunk. My heart … my heart felt they were gone,” he recalled.
The ongoing conflict between Israel and the Lebanese armed organization Hezbollah has claimed more than 1,500 lives in Israeli military operations throughout Lebanon since March 2.
Lebanese health officials report that 130 children and 101 women are among those who have died.
A two-week ceasefire arrangement between the United States and Iran was declared Wednesday. Sources close to the Iran-supported Hezbollah confirmed to Reuters that the group had halted its attacks following the agreement. Israeli operations have persisted, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stating Lebanon was excluded from the truce.
Saleh described how the bombing that claimed his family’s lives dismembered their bodies, separating his daughter’s head from her body. He was forced to bury mixed body parts together because the remains were too damaged and disfigured to identify properly.
“The strike that happened here was full of hate. It wasn’t something normal. Why they targeted them, I don’t know,” he told reporters.
He emphasized that his family members were all non-combatants and no military materials were present in his home.
Israeli military officials have not yet responded to Reuters’ inquiries about the attack, including questions about the intended target.
Since March 2, Israel has issued evacuation notices for extensive areas of Lebanon, affecting approximately 15% of the nation, including Tyre. International legal authorities note that evacuation directives should relate to immediate attacks, and following strikes must still prevent civilian casualties.
Saleh mentioned that Sarrah had been receiving physical rehabilitation to regain her ability to walk after a medical condition caused partial paralysis.
“We hoped that in two months she would be able to walk again and play like the other kids … I don’t know how to describe this loss,” he said.
Currently, he finds it impossible to spend time alone because the isolation becomes unbearable.
“The loss, being apart from them, is so hard. My whole life has changed,” he concluded.
