On the morning of September 25th 2024, an alleged Israeli airstrike hit a home in the town of Nahle, in the Baalbek district of Lebanon. As a result, a man identified as Ali Haidar Kaiss was reportedly killed, and his wife, whose name is unknown, and daughter – identified as Jana Ali Haider Kaiss – were seriously injured.

Ghadir A. Nasreddin, Ali’s niece through his wife’s side, confirmed via Facebook that Ali was initially injured in the strike, but succumbed to his wounds at the Baalbek Governmental Hospital. Posting to Facebook on September 25, Ghadir wrote: “Please, if anyone has O positive blood type and is near Baalbek Governmental Hospital, my cousin, her husband, and their daughter were injured in an airstrike and are in urgent need of blood of this type. Please ask for the injured man, Ali Haidar Kaiss, from the town of Nahle.” She posted later in the day, writing that Ali had passed away.

Ali Haidar Kaiss was born in Nahle, in the Balbeek District, and was the father of four children. He was reportedly involved in Arab Nationalist and socialist movements, with social media users remembering him as both a of the Lebanon Arab Socialist Party and Ba’ath Party. Referring to Ali’s affiliation with the Lebanon Arab Socialist Party, Facebook users Gulshan Al-Bayati Umm Bahr and Mohamed Osman Aboushoak said Ali had been involved with the party “since the second half of the seventies of the last century and remained so until the date” of his death. It seems that Ali was particularly active with party activities during the Lebanese Civil War.

Gulshan and Mohamed were among the members of the Lebanese Arab Socialist and Ba’ath parties who wrote in tribute to the Ali, mourning his death with messages such as “your comrades in the Office of Culture and National Media share your pain and offer you their deepest sympathy and heartfelt condolences for the martyrdom of the struggling comrade Ali Haidar Kaiss”, or “The leadership of the Martyr Adnan Sinno branch in the Vanguard of Lebanon Arab Socialist Party mourns to the party’s fighters (مناضلين) in Lebanon and the masses of our people, the struggling comrade Ali Haidar Kaiss who fell as a martyr as a result of targeting his home.”

Notably, the Arab Socialist Party has not had a full military wing since 2000 and the language used by fellow members to mourn his death would have been understood as common in the party’s metaphorical rhetoric on its own. As such, Ali’s membership in the Arab Socialist Party has not called Ali’s civilian status into question. This will be updated should additional information become available.

Twitter/X user @Pencil192 aligned Ali with the Lebanese Ba’ath Party – related to but distinct from the Lebanese Arab Socialist Party. Specifically, the account referred to Ali as “one of the Ba’ath Party heroes in the battles defending the Arab identity and unity of Lebanon and the Palestinian revolution.” The account added that Ali was “among the finest strugglers (مناضلين) in the branch of the martyred Comrade Adnan Sinno of the party.” Also mentioned in relation to the Vanguard of Lebanon Arab Socialist Party, Adnan Sinno was a known to have been a member of the Ba’ath Party, and apparently a wing of the Lebanese Ba’ath Party was named after him. Though Airwars was not able to deduce through open sources the nature of the Adnan Sinno wing of the party, it’s widely known that while the Lebanese Ba’ath Party maintained a militia, it formally disbanded in 1990 under the Taif Agreement, at the end of the Lebanese Civil War. Additionally, it should be noted that ‘مناضلين’ can be translated to ‘activists’, ‘fighters’, or ‘strugglers’ and crucially, does not have a necessarily militant connotation. With these notes in mind, it does not seem that current affiliation with the Lebanese Ba’ath Party should imply militancy.

Several pictures of Ali were shared by the sources mourning his death, portraying a middle-aged man with short grey hair. Additionally, the picture shared by Ghadir A. Nasreddin on Facebook shows the shrouded body of Ali Haidar Kaiss covered in a Hezbollah flag. Accompanying the picture of Ali, lying in a white and green layered shroud with a Hezbollah flag laid over his body, Ghadir wrote: “At your service, O Hussein” and congratulated Ali on his “martyrdom.”

Considering the Hezbollah flag on Ali’s coffin, 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 majority areas in Southern Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley, and the suburbs of Beirut. With this context in mind, Airwars is not considering a Hezbollah flag on a coffin to indicate that an individual was a Hezbollah militant. Given that there is no indication of militant activities, Ali has been counted as a civilian. Airwars will update the incident should new information become available.

The same sources that wrote in tribute of Ali Haidar Kaiss also denounced the serious injuries of his wife and his daughter, wishing for their quick recovery. Thaer Kaiss wrote on Facebook, “Prayers for the recovery of Jana Ali Haidar Kaiss”, who was been identified as Ali’s daughter. Regarding his wife, no identification has been obtained yet.

Ali’s son, Thaer Kaiss, posted to Facebook on November 4, writing: “Forty days have passed… and I haven’t woken up. Or am I dreaming… or has my patience not yet run out? Congratulations, my father.” Accompanying the post is a photo of Ali, wearing a red-and-white keffiyeh over his head, a blue polo, and a black jacket. In the photo, Ali smiles toward the camera. Behind him, a young man – perhaps Thaer – shares an equally wide grin. The photo has been edited so that a crown sits on Ali’s head.

Thaer shared an earlier post, on September 26, announcing the death of his father. Facebook users with the last name ‘Kaiss’ – presumably family members – commented on the post, referring to Ali as ‘Hajj Abu Husssein’ and ‘Abu Ribal’.

In terms of visualising the site of the strike, no users shared images or videos naming both civilian harm in Nahle. However, some accounts, like ‘Palestinian Event Newspaper’, shared a video – reportedly shot in Nahle on the 25th – showing plumes of smoke and debris rising from a residential building. Most accounts captioned the video with something to the effect of the Israeli military “carried out a raid targeting a site inside a residential neighborhood in the town of Nahle in the Western Bekaa, eastern Lebanon.” As sources did not mention civilian harm in connection to the video, Airwars cannot assume that the building is the home where the Kaiss family was harmed, and as such Airwars is not geolocating the video.

Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to the Israeli military.