On 24th November, 2024, an Israeli artillery strike on the Lebanese Army’s Al-Amiriya checkpoint  – on the route between Tyre and Naqoura – killed at least one Lebanese Army soldier and injured at least eight others. 43-year-old Diab Muhammad Jaafar was killed, and – out of the injured – Mohammad Awada and Tarek Hassoun were identified.

Jaafar’s death was announced by the Lebanese Army, which clarified he was a First Lieutenant. Born in 1982, Jaafar was a native of Beit Younes, a village in Lebanon’s Akkar district. He joined the army in April 2006, beginning as a trainee soldier. He had received, the statement emphasised, the “commendation and congratulations of the Army Commander several times.”

A funeral was held the following day, beginning at 1:00 p.m. Jaafar’s coffin was wrapped in a Lebanese flag and paraded around his hometown, as seen in pictures posted to Facebook by Sout Alshab. He was given a military funeral the following afternoon, attended by “political, social, religious, media and security figures”, and buried in the town cemetery. At the funeral, Major Muhammad Arabis “gave a speech in which he spoke about [Jaafar’s] virtues and gave a brief account of his life.” The mayor of Al-Huwaish, Ali al-Akoumi, also gave a speech memorialising Jaafar. A video shared by Wadi Press documented the funeral.

Al Safa Private School also posted a tribute to Jaafar as he was “one of the guardians of students in our school.” They spoke of his death with “great sorrow and grief” and included a picture of Jaafar with – presumably – his three children, two young boys in matching flannels and sunglasses standing beside him, and a toddler in his arms.

Sources diverged slightly on the number of injured. Sources Nedaa, Megaphone and Bint Jbeil reported eight injuries, while Tripoli Media Live claimed a moderately increased toll of 10. Sources Lubnane and Shahid alleged 18 had been wounded. Some of the injuries were reported to be serious. Tripoli Media Live also reported that a second soldier had been killed, though no identifying details were made public. The Times of Israel, with information from the IDF, wrote of one death and 18 injuries.

Amongst those wounded was Mohammad Awada, a soldier. Also from Akkar district, Awada had grown up in Fnaideq. His neighbor Hassan Khalil posted to Facebook, asking that he“get well soon” and “recover safely.” He attached a photograph of Awada in a hospital bed, breathing through an oxygen mask. A second “get well soon” post included a photograph of Awada wearing a black puffer jacket.

The other soldier injured was First Lieutenant Tarek Hassoun. From the town of Safira, Hassoun was “a resident of the Abu Samra area.” Mostafa Harmoush shared a picture of Hassoun with a ventilator in a hospital bed to Facebook, writing, “may God keep you safe and sound.” Facebook user Dannieyati similarly posted a picture of Hassoun in a blue jacket smoking shisha, and asked that people “pray for his recovery.” Abo Aljood Harmoush shared an update on Facebook: that Hassoun was in intensive care and had had a successful surgical operation, along with a picture of him in a teal hospital gown.

Aldaniyah Alekhbariya shared a post on Facebook with pictures of both Awada and Hassoun in military uniform: Hassoun can be seen with a military helmet, while Awada is pictured with a gun slung over his shoulder.

The strike caused a fire to break out in weapons warehouses nearby, which the Civil Defense attempted to put out. Sources Mohamed Majed and Nedaa documented the spread of fire, with Facebook users Megaphone and Al Jadeed sharing videos of the strike’s aftermath.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNFIL) later released a statement about the incident, writing, “UNIFIL is seriously concerned by numerous strikes on the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) inside the Lebanese territories, despite their declared non-involvement in the ongoing hostilities between Hizbullah and Israel.”

As the Lebanese Armed Forces are not party to the conflict, all the aforementioned casualties have been categorised as civilians. The IDF later apologised for the strike on Al-Amiriya in response to a query by the Times of Israel: “The IDF regrets the incident and clarifies that it is fighting in a targeted manner against the Hezbollah terror organization, and not against the Lebanese Army.” The military added: “The incident took place in an area where fighting is ongoing against the Hezbollah terror organization,” emphasizing that the incident is under investigation. In light of these statements, this incident’s strike status has been recorded as ‘declared’ and civilian harm status as ‘confirmed’.