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Airwars Assessment
In the afternoon of October 22, 2024, at least five civilians, including three paramedics, were injured as a result of an alleged “double-tap” Israeli airstrike in the Ksar Zaatar neighbourhood in Nabatieh, Lebanon. This incident occurred while Civil Defence teams were conducting search and rescue operations folllowing an earlier airstrike on what were the Matouq family homes.
One injured paramedic was identified as Hassan Abu Raya, and was described by Facebook account Kafr Rumman Volunteer Centre as the centre’s leader. The post naming Hassan was accompanied by a picture of two men, one sitting on a chair and the other beside him. Both have a beard and moustache, wear blue t-shirts, and one kaki-trousers and the other jeans while drinking coffee and talking.
While at least four other individuals were reportedly injured, Airwars was unable to identify them by name.
CivildefenseLB wrote on Facebook that the alleged airstrike resulted in five members of the Nabatieh Regional Centre being injured, while referring to three employees (paramedics) and a volunteer. Further down the post mentioned that “ Six wounded people were pulled out as a result of an airstrike that targeted paramedics while they were removing rubble in Ksar Zaatar.”
RedCrossLebanon wrote on X that three paramedics were injured by shrapnel and were transported to the hospital.
The Nabatieh – Official Website Facebook page wrote: “Our heroes are safe, thank God. Mercy to the martyrs and safety to all the workers.” It was accompanied by a picture of a group of men in blue uniforms, wearing bulletproof vests and some helmets. Another picture shows a vehicle probably belonging to the civil defence and two men in uniform and protective vests.
The Islamic Message Scouts Association – Zawtar Al Sharqiyah Troop wrote on Facebook that an ambulance belonging to the Al-Risala Health Ambulance Association – Zawtar Al-Sharqiya Volunteer Centre, was damaged in the alleged strike during the search and rescue operations. Al-Rissala Scouts Association is a civil defence organisation associated with the Lebanese Shi’ite Amal Movement. The post added: ‘We pray for the protection of our youth, for the victory of the resistance fighters, for the healing of the wounded, and for the safe return of all to their homes, God willing.” Affiliated with the Amal movement, Al-Risala operates scouting and civil defense operations, both of which are understood to be civilian in nature. As such, an ambulance belonging to the group is not understood to be a legitimate target, nor are those individuals who carry out civil defense roles through the organisation.
The post also contained several pictures of an ambulance of the association, showing damage to the windows and other parts of the vehicle, and several men wearing uniforms of the association.
A video shared at 1:20 PM Beirut time showed 14 civil defense members gathered on a hillside, extensive rubble beyond them. A fifteenth individual operates a bulldozer and digs through the rubble. The video, shared by ‘Nabatieh, the capital of Jabal Amel’ to Facebook is captioned “The process of removing rubble has begun in the Kassar Zaatar neighborhood – the Matouq family homes 🥀💔”. It appears that this is the site where the paramedics, including Hassan Abu Raya, were ultimately injured. The incident in which the Matouq family homes were destroyed and members of the family killed are documented in another incident (ISLB221024b).
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to the Israeli military.
Geolocation Notes
Reports of the incident mention the Ksar Zaatar neighbourhood (محلة كسار زعتر) in Nabatieh (النبطية). Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to find boundaries for the neighbourhood and to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for Ksar Zaatar are: 33.378889, 35.473056.