Airwars assessment
On September 24th 2024, at least six people were killed and six others were injured by an alleged Israeli airstrike on a residential building in the Nabi Ella region of Lebanon’s Beqaa Governorate.
Those identified as killed in the strike were Dina Darwish and her youngest son Jad Mohamed Sabra, Nili Fawwaz Mounther and her husband Hussam Sabra, as well as Ali Basma. Dina’s husband, Mohamed Sabra, sustained critical injuries, as did another child of Dina and Mohamed.
The Notre Dame University-Louaize paid tribute to their former student Dina Darwish and her youngest son Jad. In a Facebook post, they commented that Dina, who graduated with a postgraduate MA degree in 2015, was a “dedicated human rights activist serving 12 years with unwavering commitment.”
The Facebook account Homidos shared that Dina had worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for 12 years, and that the residential building in which Dina and her husband, Mohamed Sabra, lived was hit by an alleged Israeli airstrike. The post, quoting an official UNHCR statement, wrote that her husband and one of her children sustained critical injuries and were treated at hospital, whilst the bodies of Dina and her youngest son were recovered from the wreck. A post from Facebook account Lebnan, sharing a photo of Dina, her husband, and their sons, wrote that Dina and Jad were “still not found” after the strike, and asked for people to volunteer machinery to remove rubble; this pointed to the likely possibility that recovering Dina and Jad took some time.
The Syndicate of Social Work Specialists in Lebanon mourned the death of Dina Darwish by paying tribute to her ‘humanitarian service in many institutions’. With her loss, the Syndicate wrote, they had lost a “professional committed to professional principles and ethics.”
Multiple sources shared the same image of a smiling Dina, hugging Jad. Jad, who has an infectious smile, appears around five. A Facebook post from user Karka – representing the town of the same name – announced that a burial would be held on September 25, 2024, and that Dina’s father’s home would be open for condolences following the service.
Shortly after the alleged incident, Facebook page “Lebanon News from the North”, wrote that “with great sadness and sorrow, the Ministry of Social Affairs” mourned the death of Hussam Sabra, a team member in the Disabled Rights Program at the Taanayel Center. The post detailed that Hussam had been killed following a “raid on his home” and also shared an image of a middle-aged man in a suit. User Habib asked for “a thousand mercies” for Hussam and his family.
The Facebook account Farah posted to announce the death of her friend Nili Fawwaz Mounther, Hussam’s wife. Farah remembered Nelly as a “dear sister and lifelong companion” and expressed disbelief at her loss: “I never imagined in my life that I would write you this obituary.” Many accounts took to social media to share pre-war images of Hussam and Nili together.
On the same day as the incident, an image was posted to Facebook of a destroyed hilltop village, with the caption ‘Destruction due to Israeli bombardment of the town of Nabi Ella’.
Following rescue operations, the Civil Defense announced that they had recovered the bodies of 6 people and that another 6 had been wounded. Further identification or information regarding the remaining deceased and injured was not made available.
On the day of the incident, some people took to social media to share updates of the rescue operation, with @elaph1 and @SkyNewsArabia_B noting that someone was still missing following the incident.
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources identified the Israeli military.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (4)
Family members (2)
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (28) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (18) [ collapse]
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Source: Ma32oule -
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Source: Notre Dame University-Louaize (NDU) -
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Source: Helwi -
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Source: Homidos -
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Source: Moataz -
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Source: Samar -
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Source: Lebanon -
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Source: Kaban -
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Source: Lebnan -
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Source: Moqaa -
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Source: Karka -
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Source: Al hadath -
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Source: Moqaa -
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Source: Farah -
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Source: Monzer -
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Source: Habib -
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Source: @elaph1 -
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Source: @menwallb