Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISLB240924f

Incident date

September 24, 2024

Location

بلدة النبطية الفوقا في حي البريد, Town of Nabatieh Al-Fawqa in the Al-Barid neighbourhood, South Lebanon, Lebanon

Airwars assessment

On Tuesday, September 24th, 2024, at least five civilians, including a civil defence member and two women, were killed in the Al-Barid neighbourhood of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, Southern Lebanon, reportedly by an alleged Israeli double-tap airstrike. At least two militants were also killed in the attack.

Al-Manar TV also reported that several civil defence personnel from the Islamic Health Authority were injured in the attack, while the “Al-Risala Association for Health Aid – Nabatieh Al-Fawqa Volunteer Center” specified that the civil defence volunteers had been transporting four injuries ranging from “moderate to serious” when the second attack occurred, putting the total number of injuries at six.

A moving Facebook post from @Al Kalas mourned Qassem Ali Kallas, describing him as “part of an ambulance team working to transport civilian casualties in his hometown of Nabatieh al-Fawqa” who lost his life in the strike. Facebook user May also shared her tribute along with a photo of Qassem Kallas, describing him as “the one with the smile that never leaves his face,” expressing her sadness over the loss of her “brother” and “colleague.” Numerous other social media posts followed, sharing photos and expressing grief. The Islamic Health Authority and Al-Risala Association for Health Aid, both of which were associated with this incident, are civil defence groups that are associated with Hezbollah and AMAL respectively. 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 this context in mind, and given that there are no indications of militant activities, the presence of the Islamic Health Authority 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.

Further social media testimonies shared sorrow over the loss of other victims of the attack. Sada on Facebook, using information from the Al-Nabatieh Al-Fawqa News website, mourned Hassan Ali Salman al-Shaar; Fadia Ibrahim Ghandour, described as an “educator”; her son Nour Kaheel; “the servant Al-Husseini Ali Kaheel”; and the “resistance fighter Hajj Hussein Ghossein, and his wife Mona Shams al-Din.” Due to the reference as a “resistance fighter,” Hussein Ghossein has been counted as a militant. A post from Fatima M. Obaid also identified Hassan Ali Salman al-Shaar as a militant in the Islamic Resistance, therefore he has also been counted as a militant.  Multiple other sources referred to the strikes as against Hezbollah and “one of the largest weapons and missile store,” resulting in “a number of non-civilian casualties” but there was no additional information on militants killed on injured in this attack

Photos were widely shared on social media, showing the devastation. Twitter user @Bk_Hanas posted an image depicting residual smoke over Nabatieh Al-Fawqa, while others shared images of a civil defence ambulance surrounded by rubble. On Facebook, the user Nabatieh posted pictures of civil defence workers navigating the destruction left in the wake of the airstrike.

A Facebook post from Rawan Badreddin specified that the strikes were carried out against the town square and against two houses in the Al-Barid neighbourhood of Nabatieh al-Fawqa.

Where sources identified belligerents, all sources attributed the airstrike to the Israeli military.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Family members (2)

Fadia Ibrahim Ghandour فادية ابراهيم غندور
Adult female killed
Nour Kahil نور كحيل
Adult male killed

The victims were named as:

Qasem Ali Kallas قاسم علي كلاس
Adult male killed
Al-Husseini Ali Kaheel علي كحيل
Adult male killed
Mona Shams al-Deen منى شمس الدين
Adult female killed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Infrastructure
    Residential
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    5
  • (2 women3 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    6
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Impact
    Education
    Impact on services or infrastructure relating to education, health or food supply. See methodology note for details.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military
  • Belligerents reported killed
    2

Sources (30) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (28) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Al-Risala Association for Health Aid - Nabatieh Al-Fawqa Volunteer Center
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    Source: Al-Risala Association for Health Aid - Nabatieh Al-Fawqa Volunteer Center
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Al-Risala Association for Health Aid - Nabatieh Al-Fawqa Volunteer Center
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    Source: Al-Risala Association for Health Aid - Nabatieh Al-Fawqa Volunteer Center
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    Source: Jezzinetahki News
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    Source: Nabatieh
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    Source: Nabatieh
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    Source: Nabatieh
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    Source: May
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    Source: May
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    Source: Mhdi
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    Source: Sada
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    Source: Al kalas
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    Source: Albkaa
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    Source: @Bk_Hanas
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    Source: @MahdiBoussy
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    Source: Fatima M. Obaid
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    Source: @WWIIIAR
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    Source: @WWIIIAR
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Israeli Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military
  • Israeli Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Media
from belligerent (1) [ collapse]

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Infrastructure
    Residential
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    5
  • (2 women3 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    6
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Impact
    Education
    Impact on services or infrastructure relating to education, health or food supply. See methodology note for details.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military
  • Belligerents reported killed
    2

Sources (30) [ collapse]