Shortly before 8 p.m. on Friday, 6 March 2026, Israeli special forces began a raid on the town of Nabi Chit in the Bekaa Valley of eastern Lebanon, killing at least 21 civilians. Among those killed were six children and seven women. At least seven individuals affiliated with Hezbollah’s militant wing or participating in hostilities were also reportedly killed in the attack. The raid reportedly continued into the early hours of March 7, and was ultimately declared by the Israeli military.

Initial reports from Al Jazeera at 8:03 p.m., citing the Lebanese Ministry of Health, reported nine dead and 17 wounded. The next morning this number had risen to 12 dead with 33 wounded, and the Lebanese Health Ministry ultimately reported 35 wounded. Shehab News later reported 26 dead, and Lebanon News reported that a total of 26 civilians were killed in strikes in the Bekaa Valley, specifying that 15 of those were killed in Nabi Chit. Airwars was able to identify the names of 21 civilians killed in Nabi Chit, as well as seven militants. The total number of those ultimately injured in the raid is unclear.

Israeli military issues an evacuation order

On March 6, Avichay Adrae, the Israeli military’s arabic-language spokesperson issued an ‘evacuation warning’ for residents of the Bekaa Valley, “specifically the residents of the villages of Nabi Chit, Khader, Sarain al-Fouqa, and Sarain al-Tahta.” The post, shared to Telegram, Twitter/X, and Facebook, included a satellite image of the Bekaa Valley, in which part of the area is highlighted in red. Three town names, Nabi Chit, Khader, and Sarain are losely identified on the map, and two yellow arrows point north.

Israeli military declares the raid on Nabi Chit

The following day, on March 7, the military’s official Telegram account announced that “IDF special forces operated overnight in an attempt to locate findings related the missing navigator Ron Arad.” The post went on to specify that no Israeli soldiers were harmed in the operation, failing to specify resulting harm to civilians.

Mannie Fabian, Times of Israel military correspondent also posted to Telegram, writing that Israeli special forces carried out a raid in Nabi Chit on March 6 in an attempt to “locate the remains of IAF navigator Ron Arad, who who disappeared when he bailed from his plane over Lebanon in 1986.” Fabian echoed the report from the military’s Telegram in saying that no Israeli soldiers were harmed in the operation. He added that the military said no fire was directed at the troops, “contrary to claims made by Hezbollah.”

In another post, Fabian reported that “Troops operated in Nabi Chit while heavy airstrikes were carried out to isolate the area,” and despite reporting that no fire was directed at the troops, the IDF said, “anyone who approached the forces was hit.”

Fabian also shared footage from Lebanese and Saudi media, “[claiming] to show a hole dug by Israeli forces at a cemetery in the town of Nabi Chit, during an overnight raid in the area.”

Strikes on a residential building

Strikes on a residential building in which members of the Shukr and Al-Mousawi families lived resulted in the deaths of at least seven members of the Shukr family and four civilian members of the Al-Mousawi family. Sayed Fadhel reported that an airstrike caused the the families’ home fell in on them, resulting in their deaths.

The Shukr Family – killed in their home

At least seven civilian members of the Shukr family were killed. Hussein Saleh Shukr was killed alongside his daughter Fatima Hussein Saleh Shukr, and five grandchildren: Yahya Hussein Shukr; Ghazal Walaa Ali Hussein Shukr and her brother Hussein Ali Hussein Shukr; and toddler Hussein Ahmed Hussein Shukr and Hussein’s older sister Zahraa Ahmed Hussein Shukr. Hussein and Zahra’s mother Heba Ali Shoman was also among those killed.

Additionally, Zain Mahmoud Shukr and Muhammad Shukr were also killed. Muhammad is believed to have been a militant affiliated with Hezbollah and sources reported that Zain participated in hostilities. As such, both have been recorded as militants.

Zeinab Alachkar reported that the Shukr family home was opposite the town’s cemetery entrance. Zeinab wrote that Zain Mahmoud “engaged the occupation forces alone with his own weapon under the barrage of airstrikes before being martyred.” Given this report of Zain participating in hostilities, he has been recorded as a militant.

Yahya Hussein Shukr

The Facebook account affiliated with the Lebanses General Security Directorate mourned Yahya Hussein Shukr, who worked for the General Security Directorate. Yahya was a First Inspector who was months away from celebrating a decade working for the General Security Directorate. He enlisted in the as a trainee officer on October 3, 2016.

Video from Yahya’s funeral showed fellow officers speaking, in uniform, and a procession of men wearing Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) uniforms proceeding with his coffin and flowers, while other soldiers stand at attention.

Ghazal and Hussein

The Cultural Center in Al-Khader Village shared via a post on the Facebook page Al.khodor village, that Hussein was a “polite and ambitious” student who worked hard to try and receive the highest marks and hoped to attend university. A photograph of Hussein’s math homework was attached – as he hoped and worked for, he had achieved top marks. A separate post from the Facebook page for the Imam al-Jawad and Imam al-Kadhim Secondary Schools mourned the passing of Hussein and Ghazal who were both still attending school at the time of their death, writing that they left “an unhealed wound in the hearts of their teachers and classmates, and a lasting, cherished memory.” The siblings mother, Heba Ali Shoman (Shukr) was also killed, and post suggest that their father, likely named Ali Hussein Saleh Shukr considering patrilineal naming convention, was injured.

Photographs shared by “Yajnoub 2” show Ghazal in a green hoodie and green patterned hijab, with Hussein in a black shirt and cap, sitting on the hood of a car.

Heba, Zahraa, and Hussein

A stylised image of Heba with her two children shows Hiba in a light teal hijab and holding Hussein, a toddler. Zahraa is also included in the image – a smiling girl in a white hijab.

Shukr Family Background

Another member of the Shukr family, Ahmed Ali Daher Shukr went missing from Nabi Chit on December 17, 2025. Ahmed was a retired captain with the General Security Directorate. Following his disappearance, a report from Batroun press said that “the specialized security authorities were notified immediately”.

On December 23, The Times of Israel reported that Ahmed Ali was “the brother of Hassan Shukr, who “was a fighter in the group that participated in capturing Israeli pilot Ron Arad after his plane was downed on October 16” in 1986”, adding that Lebanese authorities were investigating his disappearance. The report added that investigators were “looking into the possibility that [Ahmed Ali] was killed by Israeli agents or transferred to Israel, the official says, adding that so far no trace has been found of him in Lebanon.”

Reports from Lara Sakr, among others, connected the dissapearance of Ahmed Ali to the raid on Nabi Chit. Lara wrote that the commando operation in which the Israeli military’s goal was to recover the remains of Israeli aviator Ron Arad utilised Ahmed Ali, who was believed to have been kidnapped by Israeli forces.

Videos taken from the Shukr family cemetery began to circulate on March 7, showing an upturned grave and large hole. Images of the upturned headstone show that the grave belonged to Sabhi Hussein Shukr who was born in 1960 and died on December 11, 1989.

Al-Mousawi Family – killed in their home

At least four civilian members of the Al-Mousawi family were reportedly killed in the strike on the building that they shared with the Shukr family: Ali Rizqallah al-Mousawi, Ahmed Adnan al-Mousawi, and Iman Adnan al-Mousawi were victims, as were Ali Muhammad al-Mousawi and his brother, Haider Muhammad al-Mousawi. Both brothers were pictured in a photograph shared by Abhu Mahajatahbahi – the younger is on a motorcycle, while the elder, dressed in black, stands on a road. Ahmed Adnan al-Mousawi was referred to as a ‘mujahed’ by Ritaj AL Qassim and as such, his civilian status has been recorded as ‘contested’.

A sixth member of the Al-Mousawi family, Amer Hadi al-Mousawi, was remembered as a ‘martyred mujahed’ by Hanaa El Moussawi. Hanaa’s post included a Hezbollah martyr photo of Amer, identifying him as a militant, and he has been recorded as such.

Al-Halabawi family – killed in their car

The Al-Halabawi family home reportedly overlooked the town’s cemetery, according to Zeinab Alachkar. Hamada Assad al-Habawi was apparently shot when she went out on her balcony to see what was happening in the cemetry. Her two children, Batoul Abbas al-Halabawi and Ali al-Rida Abbas al-Halabawi, attempted to drive her to the hospital when their car was “struck by Israeli enemy bullets”, according to Fatima Abbas. All three family members were killed.

Fayza Ahmad shared pictures of the family, one of which showed Ali al-Rida holding his young child. Another image showed the family’s car, which was completely destroyed. Images of Hamada show a woman with big personality – always smiling widely, and frequently waving at the camera.

A photograph collage of Hamada, Batoul and Ali al-Rida show mother and daughter in black hijabs, Batoul’s adorned with a crown of flowers. Ali, an engineer, a bearded man in glasses and also dressed in black, smiles at the camera. Hamada was lauded as a “Hajja,” indicating that she had completed the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.

The Daher Family

Samir Ibrahim Daher and his wife, Esaaf Aloush, were allegedly killed in the attack, as were their two young children Nasrallah Samir Daher and Narges Samir Daher. According to Ahmed Hadi Taha on Facebook, the family of four were Syrian and had relocated to Lebanon from Ashrafiya in the Homs region of Syria. A monochromatic photo collage of the family was shared by Ahmed Hadi Taha.

Posts from Lawrence Al-Shami and Laith Omar referred to Samir as “a criminal from Assad’s gangs”.

Additional Fatalities

The final named victims of the attack, bringing the minimum number of named civilian fatalities to 22, were Khadija Hamza Ali, Ali Abdul Hussein and Mohammed Hassan Haider Ahmed.

Yaakob Haidar and Houssein Haydar Ahmad shared an image of Mohammed. In the photo, Mohammed stands proudly in jeans and a long-sleeve grey button down shirt. Yaakob specified that Mohammed was killed in “the airstrikes that targeted the town of Nabi Chit.” Houssein Haydar Ahmad shared a generated image of Mohammed, showing him in a black-and-white keffiyeh with a fist, Lebanon flag, and gun in the background. While the imagery includes a weapon, there is no indication that Mohammed was bearing a weapon or actively affiliated with any militant group and as such, Mohammed has been recorded as a civilian. This will be updated should additional information become available.

Individuals with contested civilian status

Ali Abdul Hussein and Ahmed Adnan al-Mousawi were individually described by Ritaj al-Qassim as a “mujahid.” Due to the “mujahed” reference, these two men have been categorised as contested civilians and are therefore not included in the minimum civilian fatality count. This will be updated should additional information become available.

Facebook user Ni Bu wrote that “All the martyrs (resistance fighters, army, General Security personnel, and civilians) displayed exceptional bravery in the field confrontations”. Individuals lose protected civilian status when they become direct participants to hostilities. However, this invocation, that “army, General Security personnel, and civilians…displayed exceptional bravery” is not, on it’s own, enough to determine that individuals – beyond those explicitly identified as active members of Hezbollah’s militant wing, were direct participants to hostilities.

Militants killed

Jawad Shoman, a brother or cousin of Heba’s was also reportedly killed in the raid on Nabi Chit. While Bintjbeil Reactions by LebanGate specified that Jawad was a paramedic from Sari’in who was killed while “rescuing the wounded during during clashes with Israeli commandos in Nabi Chit”, Ahmad Baghdady named Jawad alongside Abbas al-Jaroush, Youssef al-Moussawi, and Muhammad Shukr as “Hezbollah’s dead.” As such, Jawad, along with Ahmad, Youssef, and Muhammad, have been recorded as militants.

Additionally, noted above, Zain Mahmoud Shukr reportedly participated in hostilities. As such, he has also been recorded as a militant. Also noted above, Amer Hadi al-Mousawi was a militant member of Hezbollah and has been recorded as such.

Ibrahim Yaqoub Saqr, head of the nursing department at Imam Al-Rida Center in Ghaziyeh, was also reportedly killed. The ‘Imam Reza Health Center – Ghaziyeh’ Facebook account and ‘Babliyati & Babliyati’, among others, said that Ibrahim was killed while “performing his humanitarian and professional duty serving patients and those in need.”

Images shared by ‘Our martyrs are our heroes’ and ‘Jabal amel 2’ showed Ibrahim in an Al-Mahdi Scouts uniform, and the Islamic Health Authority mourned him.

A post by Laith Omar said that “Hezbollah mourned the death of Ibrahim” and added that he “had participated in the battles of Hosh al-Sayyid Ali last year.” Given that Ibrahim was affiliated with Al-Mahdi Scouts and the Islamic Health Authority – two civilian organisation associated with Hezbollah, it’s possible that he was mourned by the group without having been a militant. However, given that Laith added that Ibrahim had “participated…battles” the year prior, it seems more likely than not that Ibrahim was a militant, and he has been recorded as such. This will be updated should additional information become available.

Damage to the area

Video footage shared by Algerie24 news channel showed extreme damage in the area of the attack. Multiple buildings were partially collapsed with rubble completely covering the street, including collapsed electricity pylons and cars with blown out windows.