On the morning of 25th September 2024 at 11am, at least eight civilians, including three women and five children were killed and a large number of others were injured in an airstrike allegedly carried out by the Israeli military on a residential home which was reportedly housing displaced people in the Dayr al Mukhallis area next to the town of Joun in southern Lebanon. An individual affiliated with the militant wing of Lebanese Hezbollah was also reportedly killed.

Though four people were initially reported as killed, later posts on social media named six, and then nine dead: Amna Jafal and her two children Mojtaba Akhdar and Sakina Akhdar, and Syrian nationals Arej Abdul Rahim Maruf Batoz and her two children Qusai Batoz and Rital Batoz. A report published by ‘Legal Agenda’ on December 24, 2025 said that three family members, Zainab Talal Qataya, her husband Khader Ahmed Ra’ad (Yasser), and their son Hassan Khader Ra’ad were killed alongside the two other families.

Information on the wounded – beyond a single report from @PalTodayBRK, which mentioned a “large number of wounded” – was not made available.

Friends and family of the victims shared photos and tributes to the deceased on social media. Hawraa Zein posted a picture of Amna and her two children at a celebration on Facebook, whilst Saffah Fida shared pictures of Qusai and Rital Batoz posing for the camera together, mourning the death of her ‘friend’ and ‘sister’ as well as her children, now ‘birds of paradise’. In a tribute to Arej and her children, Facebook user Silver Saffah wrote that the two children had been studying French and Arabic at school, whilst speaking a third language, Aramaic, at home. She also described the grief of the family’s grandfather Abu Marouf at the loss of his family, saying that ‘the sadness that lives in his heart is deeper than smiles can hide’. Silver Saffah explained that Arej’s husband came home to find ‘his house destroyed’ and his family ‘gone forever’. The family were to be buried in the Syrian town of Maaloula, where they were originally from. Saffah decried the lack of care in how media sources spoke of the family: ‘The media talked about them as a “Syrian family,” as if they were just a number on a daily news list. No names to mention, no stories to tell, no faces to immortalize’.

Many others in the local community also mourned the victims’ deaths. Dayr al Mukhallis Secondary School wrote in a Facebook post that its two students Qusai and Sakina, along with their mother were now ‘angels in the sky’. Ali Sabbah wrote that Mojtaba and Sakina Akhdar were ‘angels amongst the students’, and that he had been ‘unable to stop crying’ since learning of his two students’ deaths. Bouchra Koubeissy wrote that Sakina’s ‘smile filled the school, and her absence means the pain never leaves us’. Al-Janoub football club posted a picture of Mojtaba holding a certificate and wearing a medal, calling him a ‘special and distinguished player’.

Images posted by multiple sources show Mojtaba in what appears to be a uniform for the Imam al-Mahdi Scout group, a Hezbollah-affiliated scouting organisation that is registered with the Lebanese Scouting Federation. Mojtaba and his sister are also pictured holding up images of General Soleimani. As this affiliation does not necessarily indicate militant status, all victims have been counted as civilians.

A number of Facebook users posted to Facebook on September 25 and 26 to memorialise Zainab, Khader, and Hassan. A number of these posts, including those shared by users like ‘The wandering eagle’, Ali Hussein Issa, and Wael Fakih shared images of Khader in military attire and referred to his affiliation with Lebanese Hezbollah. As a result, Khader has been recorded as a militant. This will be updated should additional information become available.

Ghazwan M.Issa shared a collage of the three family members’ faces, smiling, and wrote “May God have mercy on this good young man, his good wife, and his angelic child.” In the image, Zainab wheres a purple hijab with flowers and smiles brightly toward the camera. Hassan looks to be no older than ten, and his brown hair falls in short bangs over his forehead.

An image shared by Ali Hussein Issa on September 26, 2024 shows Zainab, Hassan, and Khader’s caskets – two of which are draped in the Hezbollah flag. A man in military attire and a head bandage stands next to the caskets, and a large poster with the names of the three family members and a picture of Hassan hangs from a wall. The image, taken outside, also shows tens of people looking onto the caskets. Posts from Nadia Koubeissi and Joun Town News announcing the funeral plans said that it would be held in front of the Joun Husseiniya.

A Facebook post from Riyadh Ahmed Qazmouz mentioned that the strikes in the Dayr al Mukhallis area struck a home and an ammunition depot. The report from Legal Agenda noted that Khader was the owner of the home and that it had been housing displaced people.

Where sources mentioned a belligerent, all deemed the Israeli military responsible.