Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Shortly before 1 PM on Monday, September 23rd 2024, an alleged Israeli airstrike struck a home in the town of Al-Saksakieh in the Sidon District of South Lebanon, reportedly killing at least two civilians, both of whom were female members of the Haider family. At least one other member of the family was injured.
Twitter/X users @YeniSafakArabic and @sputnik_ar were the first to report the alleged Israeli strike on Al-Saksakieh at 1:01 PM and 1:05 PM, respectively. @Sputnik_ar also shared a photo showing a white cloud of smoke rising over the residential buildings. It is unclear if the image shared by @Sputnik_ar depicts, from a distance, the strike that hit the Haider family home, or one of the other reported strikes in Al-Saksakieh on the 23rd.
Hajja Fatima Faqih, wife of Hajj Abbas Haidar, was killed alongside her daughter Hasnaa Abbas Haider. Fatima’s son Mohammad (Mhmd) Haider was reportedly injured. Posting to TikTok, Mohammed, (@mhmd_haidar) posted a series of videos about the tragedy. Specifically, Mohammad shared images of his mother Fatima and sister Hasnaa, along with videos of the destruction to his family’s home and vehicle.
In a video shared to TikTok on November 25th, Mohammad told viewers that his mother and sister were martyred, that he was pulled from the rubble and taken to the hospital, and that in addition to the loss of his mother and sister, the family also lost their car and home. Speaking to other displaced people who may be watching the video, and identifying himself among them, Mohammad said that he hoped they would all be able to return to their homes soon.
Five days later, on November 30th, Mohammad shared another video in which he says that after 66 or 67 days of looking, they had still not found his mother Fatima’s body. He added that hopefully they would continue looking the next day. In the video, Mohammad appears to be sitting at a burial site. He turns the camera to show where his sister’s body will be laid to rest, next to a black marble burial marker which he says belongs to his grandmother.
Mohammad continued to post updates to TikTok. On December 4th, Mohammad shared a video from the family’s home which was struck more than two months prior. In it, he says “Do you see all of this rubble? This is where the house was.” In the video, piles of rubble are visible, along with what remained of a large home. In the video, it is appears that the family home was a standalone building, with no other buildings in the immediate vicinity.
In a later update, posted on December 15th, Mohammad confirms that the family had found and buried his sister Hasnaa, but had still not been able to find his mother Fatima.
A Facebook post from Mouhamad Haydar, posted on September 23rd, included Fatima and her daughter Hasnaa in a list of individuals killed in strikes on the town of Al-Saksakieh on the same day. In the post, Mouhamad, who is writing from Britain, notes that there will be a burial on “Tuesday, September 24, 2024, in the afternoon, in the cemetery of the town of Al-Saksakieh.” However, given testimony shared by Mohammad to TikTok, along with a post, outlined below, shared by Al-Saksakieh Website on Facebook, it appears that Fatima and Hasnaa were not included in the burial on September 24th.
A Facebook post from Al-Saksakieh Website shared eight images on September 25th, with the caption “The funeral of the late Hasnaa Abbas Haider in Al-Saksakieh.” The images show what appears to be a rectangular coffin, shrouded in a green cover with gold tassels. A verse form the Quran also appears to be written on the fabric cover in dark cursive. Across the photographs, a crowd of men are seen carrying the coffin.
In one image, an ambulance with the logo associated with the Islamic Health Authority is visible, along with individuals wearing day-glo vests and t-shirts featuring the same logo. Another image shows a flag in the background, displaying the AMAL logo. The Islamic Health Authority is a civil defense group that is associated with Hezbollah and the AMAL is a political party that used to operate a militia and is now allied with Hezbollah.
While Hezbollah operates an active militant wing, their political presence is also deeply enmeshed within the state, providing social and organisational services, primarily in the Shia’a majority areas in Southern Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley, and the suburbs of Beirut. With the ubiquity of the organisations’ presence in mind, and given that there are no indications of militant activities, the presence of the Islamic Health Authority and AMAL and cannot be used to determine if an individual or community is affiliated with Hezbollah’s armed wing, or that there was a militant presence in the area.
Posting to Facebook on September 23rd, 2024, English-language account Speak for Palestine – Journalist wrote that “over 13 people have been killed and several others injured due to Israeli airstrikes on residential buildings in Taraiyya town in Al-Bekaa and Saksakiyeh town in Sidon.”
This incident originally reflected this post from Speak for Palestine – Journalist, and included members of the Al-Arab and Abbas families who were also reportedly killed in Al-Saksakieh on September 23rd. The original incident also named Nadia Abbas Heider as among those killed. However, as only once source shared that Nadia was killed on September 23rd, a source that named Nadia alongside members of the Abbas family, coupled with the fact that testimonies shared by other members of the Haider family did not mention the loss of Nadia, she has been included in the upper casualty range only. This will be updated should additional information come to light.
Ultimately, based off of a review of images of the sites of destruction, along with the addition of sources shared by Mohammad to TikTok, this incident was split into three separate incidents on February 5th, 2025. Information previously found in this assessment can now be found in ISLB230924eb and ISLB230924ea.
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to the Israeli military.
The incident occured at approximately 1:00 pm local time.
The victims were named as:
Family members (3)
Geolocation notes (2) [ collapse]
Reports of the incident mention the town of al Saksakieh (السكسكية) in the Sidon District (قضاء صيدا). Analysing audio-visual material from sources, we have narrowed down the location to these exact coordinates: 33.416883, 35.300219.
Summary
Sources (31) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (32) [ collapse]
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Bintjbeil -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Mouhamad.haydar -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Mouhamad.haydar -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Marwa Assili -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: @Yahia Dhaine -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: @mehrez -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Abu Ali Mahdi -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: @Ahmadhamieh313 -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Badran Gentlmen -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: @zezebaydoun -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: @Salehyo77483616 -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: @sputnik_ar -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Alsaksakiyah -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Alsaksakiyah -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Alsaksakiyah -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Alsaksakiyah -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.