When a trip to the Israeli Lebanon house becomes lethal

For months after the Israeli-Chazbollah war that destroyed South Lebanon, the Alawieh family would visit a slope near their damaged home to catch what it could do with what it remained.

Their olive trees were gone. So were their goats, and the lemon and orchard figs that had taken years to bear fruit. Their home was just a bunch of ruins.

Israel had agreed on a deadline of 26 January-two months after the ceasefire to withdraw its other forces from southern Lebanon. On that day, Mousa Alawieh started with his three teenage children and a cousin, willing to see what was left out of their home in the Aitaroun border town.

Mr Alawieh, 45, a metal worker, had been displaced for more than a year and struggled to get them out. He was hoping to save the belongings he could from the debris, family members reported.

But he never did it home.

As he and his family were driving through their flattened city, they faced at least two Israeli soldiers on the road that were shot many times in the family car, killing Mr Alawieh, according to a video verified by the New York Times and accounts by His own brother and groom.

Asked about taking Mr Alawieh, the Israeli army said the matter was “under consideration”.

Israel had delayed his withdrawal that day, but Mr Alawieh did not know and believed that the army had begun to leave Aitaroun, according to his brother Yaacoub Alawieh.

The displaced are uncertain as to whether Israel will remain indefinitely in Lebanon and when they can return home. Many of their cities and villages are now in ruins, and it is also not unclear who will pass the Mammoth bill for reconstruction.

After Israel and Lebanon agreed to expand the deadline for withdrawal of January 26, Israeli forces continued to occupy large portions of the South Lebanese. A new date for the withdrawal was set for Tuesday and Israeli forces were removed from other inhabited cities and villages along the border.

But the Israeli army said this week that he was intended to remain in various strategic points in Lebanon beyond the deadline for his complete withdrawal.

Israel once occupied southern Lebanon for 18 years and with every delay in removal, fears of another prolonged occupation have increased.

The last war began brewing after the surprise of Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

After almost a year of low -level conflict, Israel began a full -scale attack in September, killing many Hezbollah leaders and destroying much of its arms stocks. It has been the most devastating Lebanon war for decades.

Israel has issued a series of warnings to southern Lebanese residents – including January 26 – not to return to their homeland because its military forces were still there. But thousands of Lebanese defied these commands to their willingness to go home.

Israeli forces killed at least 24 people in South Lebanon on January 26, according to the Lebanese health ministry and more were killed in the days that came after.

Mr Alawieh was so excited that he was going home that he didn’t even see the news that day, his brother said, so he had the impression that the Israeli troops had begun to withdraw on the outskirts of Aitaroun.

But as his car rounded up a turn in the city, at least two Israeli soldiers suddenly appeared on the road in front, according to a video shot from the inside of the vehicle by Ali, his 15 -year -old son Alawieh.

Mr. Alawieh panicked and hit his vehicle in the reverse. The family raised their hands in the air. A shot hit out – one, two, then 20 – a saliva of metal and glass and leather bullets.

“Get off. Dad. Get off!” Ali shouted from the back seat, his sisters shout in fear.

“No, Dad!” Ali shouted. “Dad! Daddy! Daddy!”

As their father began to bleed, Israeli soldiers ordered the children out of the car and challenged them, his brother Alawieh said, relaying what his family members told him at the moment. The soldiers told them to walk straight without looking back. They left their father behind in the car, injured but still alive.

Rukaya Alawieh, 18 -year -old daughter Alawieh, was injured in the shooting and took her an hour to reach the nearest hospital to find her father. By the time the ambulance arrived in the car, he was dead.

Like many other residents of South Lebanon, Mr Alawieh was associated with Hezbollah, according to his brother. But he was not a fighter or a full member, the brother said. Hezbollah has long operated a list of social and humanitarian services instead of the Lebanese problem, and Mr Alawieh has participated in the social work of the group shortly before his death.

Many residents who have been able to return to their homes in South Lebanon have often reached back to find anything left.

The extensive Alawieh family lost 11 of their homes, said Marwan Qassem, a groom of Mr Alawieh, who held a home at Aitaroun and also ran a large family farm there, both now in ruins.

“When I saw the damage at home, I asked myself, where do I start?” He said.

During the war, Mr Qassem and Mr Alawieh spent months bounce between temporary accommodation with their families, trying to escape Israel’s enlargement.

They first left the border area in an area where the air raids soon hit. They then headed to the capital, Beirut, but this was also bombed. It was a seemingly endless loop, looking for security, but it is never safe.

Today, his family is in a vacuum, still unable to return to his home country and consumed with sadness for their losses. Forced to put their father to rest from the family cemetery in Aitaroun, the children have struggled to process what happened, Mr Qassem said.

Ali’s ridiculous laughter gave way to cautiousness. And Rukaya, his older sister to come in to find help after their father’s shot, is injured.

“Sometimes he is silent,” Mr Qassem said. “Sometimes he shouts.”

Arijeta lajka and Myra noveck They contributed reports.