In the village of Srifa in south Lebanon, seven-year-old Aline Saeed narrowly survived an Israeli airstrike that struck her family home last week. She had been attending her father’s funeral when the attack occurred, tragically killing her infant sister and several other relatives. The strike took place on Wednesday, coinciding with the first day of a U.S.-Iran ceasefire that many in Lebanon had hoped would extend to their country as well.
Despite hopes for peace, Israeli strikes have claimed over 350 lives across Lebanon, leaving the Saeed family to mourn four additional relatives. Nasser Saeed, Aline’s 64-year-old grandfather who also survived the attack, described the moment: “They said it was a ceasefire. Like everyone else, we went up to the village to attend the funeral prayers and return home, when suddenly it felt like a storm was falling upon us.”
On Sunday, Nasser and other family members gathered in the southern port city of Tyre to collect the bodies, which were wrapped in green cloth. Among them was his granddaughter Taleen, Aline’s sister, who was not yet two years old. Bearing bandages on his head and hand and scratches on his face, Nasser mourned quietly while women nearby cried out in anguish.
The Israeli military stated it lacked sufficient information to investigate the incident but emphasized it takes precautions to minimize civilian casualties during strikes targeting Hezbollah militants.
The current conflict in Lebanon escalated on March 2, when Hezbollah launched attacks on Israeli positions in support of Iran. Since then, Israel has intensified its air and ground campaign, resulting in over 2,000 deaths in Lebanon, including 165 children and nearly 250 women.
In a significant development, Pope Leo expressed deep solidarity with the Lebanese people during his Sunday address at St. Peter’s Square, calling urgently for a ceasefire and highlighting the moral duty to protect civilians from the devastating effects of war.
Wednesday marked one of the deadliest days in Lebanon’s recent history. Nasser Saeed condemned the violence as a war crime, questioning the global response to civilian casualties: “If a child is wounded in Israel, the world reacts immediately. Are we not human? Are we not people?”
Taleen was born in 2024 amid the previous round of intense fighting between Hezbollah and Israel. Her grandfather, Mohammed Nazzal, reflected somberly, “She was born in war and died in war.”
Meanwhile, Iran is advocating for a ceasefire in Lebanon as part of ongoing negotiations with the United States, which concluded on Sunday without reaching an agreement. Israel, however, prefers to engage Lebanese officials through a separate dialogue channel.
Heavy bombardment continues unabated, with nearly 100 fatalities reported on Saturday alone. Dr. Abbas Attiyeh, head of emergency operations at Tyre’s Jabal Amel hospital, described last week’s attacks as some of the most intense in recent memory. He noted the overwhelming challenge of treating numerous wounded patients arriving simultaneously, many of whom are children.
