Israeli strike kills father and three children in south Lebanon massacre
Israeli drone strikes have killed five people, including a father and his three children, in the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil, in what has been denounced as “a massacre”.
In the late afternoon on Sunday, two consecutive missiles were fired, with one targeting a motorcycle, and another hitting a car carrying a family of six.
The victims were identified as Shadi Sharara and three of his children - Celine, Hadi, and Silane - all reportedly American citizens.
Their mother Amani and sister Aseel were wounded. The driver of the motorcycle was identified as Mohammed Mroueh.
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said in a statement that the family held US citizenship. The US State Department, however, said there are indications they were not American citizens.
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President Joseph Aoun condemned the strike and urged the international community to pressure Israel to respect the ceasefire reached with Hezbollah in late November.
“As we are in New York to discuss matters of peace and human rights, Israel continues its ongoing violations of international resolutions,” Aoun said in a statement on X.
He accused Israel of “committing a new massacre in Bint Jbeil”. The president is in New York to attend the UN General Assembly.
Despite the truce, the Israeli military has continued to strike what it claims are Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon, while frequently violating Lebanese airspace and maintaining its occupation of areas in the south.
Israel has stepped up both the number and frequency of its strikes this week.
According to a tally by Lebanese newspaper L’Orient Today, at least 308 people have been killed in Lebanon since the ceasefire took effect.
On Sunday evening, the Israeli army said it “regrets the injury of civilians” in the Bint Jbeil strike, which it claimed - without providing evidence - was aimed at a Hezbollah member.
Speaking to L'Orient Today, the president of Bint Jbeil municipal council, Mohammad Bazzi, called the attack a "massacre of civilians", adding that the bodies of the victims had been "mutilated and scattered".
The Lebanese army said the strikes took Israeli violations of the ceasefire to 4,500 since November.
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