On the evening of Thursday, November 14, 2024, an alleged Israeli airstrike struck the Civil Defense Centre in the town of Durrus (Douris) in Baalbek, eastern Lebanon, killing at least 14 civilian members of the civil defense, all adult men: head of the center Bilal Raad, Hussein Hassan, Khalil Nasser al-Din, Ali Noun, Ali Karkaba, Hussein al-Khatib, Ahmed Hamza, Hassan Mahdi Wahoud, Haider al-Zein, Ali Awada, Omar Solh, Abbas Raad, Hussein Karkaba, and Muhammad Abd al-Karim Noun; and one Hezbollah-affiliated member: Abbas Hussein Al-Halabawi. Up to five civil defense members were injured, and the building of the civil defense center was reduced to rubble.

Snd News Agency (@Snd_pal) was the first to report the incident at Twitter/X at 8:37 PM, reporting the death of civil defense official, Bilal Raad, and adding his image. He was a middle-aged man with grey hair pictured with a microphone.

An article published by the Qatari media organisation Al Araby on November 15, 2024, reported that 15 people had been killed in the attack, all of whom are separately mentioned in a number of social media posts from a range of accounts. Although none provided a fully exhaustive list of the casualties, the Lebanese General Directorate for Civil Defense uploaded images of 12 profiles, identifying each casualty and listing general achievements and history of civil defense workers.

Twitter/X user @bilal_aljaber18 reported that 20 civilians were “killed and injured” as a result of the deadly attack. As at least 15 individuals were killed, Airwars has assumed an injury toll of five – though this has not been otherwise confirmed by sources.

The video report by the Saudi news channel Al-Hadath, published on Facebook, shed some light on the incident and casualty figures. The broadcaster asked the reporter if they would like to tell him the breaking news from Lebanon. The reporter answered:

“The news now is focused on the Bekaa region, and it is in two directions. The first direction is now, specifically at the entrance to the city of Baalbek, what is known as the town of Douris, where the Israeli air force raided the Civil Defense Center and leveled it to the ground. A minute ago, the governor of Baalbek, Al-Haram Al-Bashir Khodr, indicated that until this hour, 12 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble, and the search for the missing under the rubble is still continuing. Khodr had indicated before that the information he had from the Civil Defense is that there were 20 Civil Defense personnel members and the head of the regional Civil Defense Center for the Baalbek region in the building before the strike, and that communication with the head of the center since the beginning of the raid until this hour has been cut off.”

The Al-Hadath video showed rescue efforts amidst debris and thick clouds of smoke, and civil defense vehicles were seen nearby.

A post uploaded by the Facebook user Linda Abdo listed 13 of the victims, calling them “heroes” who “are not numbers” and asking that their names be remembered. It included two photos, the first depicting six men in civil defense uniforms resting next to a wall. Ali Karkaba, who appears to be an older, middle-aged man, was most clearly identifiable in the centre, matching his appearance in other photos posted by users in which he was named. The second image depicted eight smiling men posing in their civil defense uniforms.

The Facebook user Abou Nassif Ali shared a video montage of smiling photos together with Ali Karkaba, as well as individual photos of him posing in front of a scenic view and smoking a pipe in his civil defence uniform. The caption describes Ali as a “martyr” and “lover of my soul”.

According to an article on the incident published by Al Araby, Ali Karkaba’s daughter Susan, also a member of the civil defense, was involved in the search for his remains. She explained that he had been sleeping at the centre to be ready to respond to other incidents when the strike occurred.

Bintjbeil.org, a Lebanese news organisation, posted a statement by the mayor of Baalbek, Mustafa al-Shall, to its Facebook page, mourning the head of the civil defense centre in Durrus, Bilal Raad. The statement describes Bilal as a “lover of Baalbek and its people,” who enthusiastically performed his role and was willing to fulfill “any duty, regardless of the risks.”

At least two of the other civil defense members were mourned in Facebook posts by relatives and family members. Souraya Solh posted a photo of Omar Solh, a middle-aged man sitting in a chair and holding a cane, with a caption identifying him and stating: “The eyes shed tears and the heart grieves, and we are saddened by your departure.”

Another Facebook user, Zaianb Haidar, posted a photo of Hassan Mahdi Wahoud in his civil defence uniform, alongside a caption identifying him and praising him as a “lifesaver.” His nephew, Hussein Haidar, also made a post that describes his pride in Hassan and mourns his death.

A Facebook account “Our village is better” shared a very emotional video showing a survivor of the strike who was sobbing over the death of his colleagues and said: “I have received the names of the martyrs, I just can’t tell you.” The video also showed an excavator and rescue workers working amidst debris and rubble left at the site of the building.

The damage caused by the strike was depicted in posts by local news agencies. A post uploaded to X by the Snd News Agency showed a photo of an overturned and burnt-out vehicle, while video footage uploaded to Facebook by Al Hadath shows the aftermath of the strike. Smoke can still be seen rising from the rubble as rescue workers operate heavy equipment and search for survivors in the darkness. A video shared to Facebook by Bintjbeil.org showed the direct aftermath of the strike, where the raging fire can be seen.  An update shared later on Facebook by this organization reported that the clearing of the rubble had finished by November 15th.

A photo uploaded by the Facebook user Mona Helbawi indicated that one of the casualties, Abbas Hussein al-Halabawi, was affiliated with Hezbollah. In the photo, he appeared in a Hezbollah portrait plastered on a wall, alongside a portrait of a possible relation, Mahdi Adnan al-Halabawi. Additionally, a post by the account Antique Abou Ali from November 14 referred to Abbas Hussein al-Halabawi as a martyred “mujahid”. On Facebook, Medad Allsamaa shared a picture of the late Abbas holding a gun. Therefore, Airwars considers him a militant.

Where sources identified the perpetrator, all sources attributed the strike to the Israeli military.