Months after Israel-hezbollah war This devastated southern Lebanon, the Alawieh family, would visit a hill near their destroyed home to catch any view that could of what was left.
Their olive trees disappeared. So were their goats, and the orchards of lemons and figs that had to be fruitful for years. Their house was just a pile of ruins.
Israel agreed to the deadline 26 January – two months after a The interruption of the fire came into force – To pull his remaining forces from South Lebanon. On that day, Mousy Alawieh went with her three teenage girls and a cousin, she was eager to see what was left of their house in the border town of Aitoroun.
Mr. Alawieh, 45, a metal worker, was displaced for over a year and struggled to put an end to the end. He hoped he would save any possession that could have made the wreck, said family members.
But never returned home.
While he and his family were driving through their flattened city, they came across at least two Israeli soldiers on the road who repeatedly shot into a family car, killing Mr. Alawieh, according to video recording confirmed by New York Times and accounts from his brother and son -in -law.
Asked about Mr. Alawieh’s shooting, the Israeli army said it was “in review”.
Israel delayed the retreat that day, but Mr. Alawieh was not aware and believed that the army began to withdraw from Aitoroun, according to Yaacoub Alawieh, his brother.
They are not sure if Israel will remain indefinite in Lebanon and when they will be able to return home. Many of their cities and villages now lies in ruinsAnd it is also unclear who will carry an account for the renewal of the mammoth.
After Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend the deadline for withdrawal on January 26, Israeli forces continued to occupy large parts of South Lebanon. The new withdrawal date was set on Tuesday, and the Israeli forces withdrew from the remaining populated cities and villages along the border.
But the Israeli army said this week that he intended Stay on numerous strategic points within Lebanon Behind the deadline for his complete withdrawal.
Israel once occupied southern Lebanon for 18 years, and with each delay in drawing, fear of another prolonged occupation they grew up.
The last war began to cook after surprise Hamas’ attack In the south of Israel on October 7, 2023. The Lebanese militant group that supported Iran Hezbollah began to attack Israeli positions in solidarity with Hamas, his ally.
After almost a year of a low -level conflict, Israel launched a full offensive in September, assassination of many of Hezbollah’s leaders and destroying most of their weapons supplies. It was the most devastating war in Lebanon in decades.
Israel has published a series of warnings to the inhabitants of South Lebanon – including January 26 – not to return to their hometowns yet because his military forces were still deployed there. But Thousands of Lebanese They defied these orders in their desire to go home.
Israeli forces killed at least 24 people in southern Lebanon only on January 26, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, and More killed In the days that came later.
Mr. Alawieh was so excited that he went home that he had not even checked the news that day, his brother said, so he was under the impression that the Israeli troops began to retreat to the periphery of Aitoroun.
But as his car rounded off a bandage in the city, at least two Israeli soldiers suddenly appeared on the way in front of the video taken from the vehicle from the vehicle, Alija, the 15-year-old son, Mr Alawieh.
Mr. Alawieh panicked and scored his vehicle in the opposite. The family raised their hands in the air. The shots rang – one, two, then 20 – a salvo of bullets piercing metal and glass and skin.
“Get down, Dad, get down!” He shouted Ali from the back seat, and his sisters scream with fear.
“No, Dad!” shouted Ali. “Dad! Daddy!”
As their father began to bleed, Israeli soldiers ordered children from the car and questioned them, said Mr. Alawieh’s brother, conveying what his family members who were in the car at the time told him. The soldiers then told them to walk straight forward without looking back. The father left behind in the car, wounded, but still alive.
Rukaya Alawieh, 18-year-old daughter of Mr. Alawieh, was wounded in the shooting and it took her an hour to reach the nearest hospital to find her father’s help. When an ambulance arrived in the car, he was dead.
Like many other inhabitants of South Lebanon, Mr. Alawieh was associated with Hezbollah, according to his brother. But he was not a fighter or a full member, his brother said. Hezbollah has long managed A list of social and humanitarian services instead of a Lebanese disease, and Mr. Alawieh became involved in the social work of the group just before his death.
Many residents who managed to return to their homes in southern Lebanon were often returned to find anything that remained.
The expanded Alawieh family lost 11 of his homes, said Marwan Qasssem, the son -in -law of Mr. Alawieh, who owned a house in Aitoron and led a large family farm there, both in ruins.
“When I saw the damage home, I wondered where to start?” he said.
During the war, Mr. Qassem and Mr. Alawieh spent months bouncing between temporary accommodation with their families, trying to avoid an extensive offensive of Israel.
They first fled from the border region to the area where air attacks were soon hit. Then they headed to the capital, Beirut, but it was also bombarded. It was a seemingly endless loop, which sought security, but never quite safe.
Today, his family is in a recess, still cannot return home and swallow with sadness for their losses. Forced to lay his father from resting from the family cemetery in Aitoron, the children struggled to process what happened, Mr. Qassem said.
Ali’s cheeky laughter gave way to restraint. And Rukaya, his older sister who tried to find help after their father was shot, was traumatized.
“Sometimes she is silent,” Mr. Qassem said. “Sometimes she cries.”
The ariases like and Myra Novack contribute to reporting.
