This undated photo provided by Reda Gharib shows a family photo from left to right: Rasha, Nour, Ahmed, Hanan and Maya Gharib who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on their apartment in al-Housh, in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on Sept. 23, at the start of an escalation in its war against Hezbollah. (Reda Gharib via AP) FILE – Smoke rises from buildings hit in Israeli airstrikes in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. This June 2023 photo provided by Reda Gharib, shows Reda Gharib, right, and his mother, Hanan, who was killed with other family members in an Israeli airstrike on the family’s apartment in al-Housh, in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on Sept. 23, at the start of an escalation in its war against Hezbollah. (Reda Gharib via AP) This December 2022 photo provided by Reda Gharib, shows Reda Gharib, right, and his father, Ahmed, who was killed with other family members in an Israeli airstrike on the family’s apartment in al-Housh, in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on Sept. 23, at the start of an escalation in its war against Hezbollah. (Reda Gharib via AP) FILE – Smoke rises from buildings hit in Israeli airstrikes in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024.
Then his father announced to the group that he had received a call from the Israeli military to evacuate or risk their lives. After that, the chat fell silent. Ten minutes later, Gharib called his father. There was no answer.
Gharib said his family had no connection to Hezbollah. The direct hit gutted their apartment, while those above and below suffered only damage, suggesting a specific part of the building was targeted. Gharib said it was his family’s home.
The strike was one of more than 1,600 Israel said it carried out on Sept. 23, the first day of an intensified bombardment of Lebanon it has waged for the past month. More than 500 people were killed that day, a casualty figure not observed in Gaza on a single day until the second week, said Emily Tripp, director of London-based Airwars, a conflict monitoring group.
Israel has vowed to cripple Hezbollah to put an end to more than a year of cross-border fire by the Iranian-backed militant group that began the day after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack triggered the war in Gaza. It says its strikes are targeting Hezbollah’s members and infrastructure. But there are also hundreds of civilians among the more than 2,000 people killed in the bombardment over the past month — often entire families killed in their homes.
He was close to his three sisters, the keeper of their secrets and best friend, he said. Growing up, their father was often away, so he and his mother took charge of family affairs.
The last time he visited his family was in May 2023, when his sister Maya, an engineering student, got engaged. She had planned to marry on Oct. 12. But as tensions with Israel grew in September, Gharib’s plans to come home for the wedding were uncertain. She told him she would put it off until he could get there.
“She was not destined to have her wedding. We paraded her as a bride to paradise instead,” Gharib said. On the day the wedding was to have taken place he posted pictures of his sister, including her wedding dress.
“I am so hurt. But I know the hurt will be hardest when I come to Lebanon,” Gharib said. “Not even a picture of them remains hanging on the walls. Their clothes are not there. Their smell is no longer in the house. The house is totally gone.”…Read more by By SARAH EL DEEB, Associated Press
