At approximately 3 AM on September 27, 2024, an alleged Israeli airstrike hit two three-storey family homes in the Al-Sindyana neighbourhood in Shebaa in the Nabatieh governorate of Lebanon, destroying it completely and killing at least nine civilians – all of whom belonged to the Zahra family.

According to sources, Israeli fighter jets allegedly launched the attack between 03:00 and 04:00 AM, less than a kilometre from Naqqar pond and the border between Lebanon and the occupied Golan Heights. Ambulance teams were called to the site where they worked to clear the rubble and recover the bodies of nine members of the Zahra family, a shepherding family in the area, including at least three women – one of whom was pregnant – and two children.

The information about the nine fatalities from one family in Shebaa was voiced by the Al-Sharq correspondent from Beirut, Maha Hoteit, in a video report shared by Al-Aharq Now on Facebook. The Telegram account of Lebanon News provided the names of the nine victims.

Among those who were killed in the attack were Hussein Khalil Zahra and his wife, Ratiba Asaad Hamdan. Their son, Khader Hussein Zahra, was killed along with his wife, Aisha Hamadeh, and their young son, Ali Khader Zahra, who was four years old.

Hassan Hussein Zahra, the son of Hussein and Ratiba, was also killed along with his sisters, Duaa Hussein Zahra and Khadra Hussein Zahra who was pregnant with her first child at the time of her death.

Finally, 11-year-old Youssef Nasri Hamdan was killed in the incident. According to an interview with Suweyda 24, Youssef was a young boy, not older than 14 years, living with his uncle. The Facebook post by Hoda Zbib indicated that Youssef was 11 years old. His father was based in another area of Lebanon when the incident happened, while his mother, Nidaa, was based in the city of Shahba in Syria. The post was accompanied by an image of the late Youssef dressed in a brown hoodie.

Hoda Zbib also wrote about the proximity of the strike site to the Golan Heights, and thus lands “occupied” by Israel, writing that the Zahra family was killed: “Less than a thousand meters away from the barbed wire and the Naqqar pond that separate the people of #Shebaa from their lands in the occupied farms of the town (Shebaa Farms).”

Multiple social media sources shared a photo collage featuring the civilians killed in the strike. Among them was a married couple, hugging their two small children, an elderly woman, two men, one of them standing along with a boy, and a teenage girl.

Following the incident, friends, family and social media users mourned the loss of the family. Naming the family members killed in the attack and sharing images of them, some shared religious messages stating “We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return,” whilst others shared their outrage that such an attack, “devoid of international law,” should take place.

Multiple sources, including Tripoli wataniye on Facebook, shared an image of the rescue efforts where at least five paramedics, wearing red uniforms and white helmets, attempted to remove rubble and retrieve the bodies, assisted by residents. JbeilDistrict was one of the accounts which shared the photo. The post included the text “Ambulance teams continue to work to remove rubble from the targeted building in Shebaa, Lebanon, searching for missing persons, after 9 bodies were recovered this morning.”

Legal Agenda reported that the Zahra family was a farming family. “Normally, at dawn, the family would be busy milking the animals and preparing dairy products, while the shepherds among them would take the goats to the vicinity of their home in the Al-Sindiyana neighbourhood, on the outskirts of nearby Shebaa.” In the article posted by Legal Agenda, the family was just an hour away from starting their routine when, at 3 AM, their home was struck – killing all nine members inside. The article added that the Israeli military issued an evacuation order to the residents of the town, following the pre-dawn strike.

The town’s mayor, Muhammad Hashem, said that the attack on the Zahra family – who had never left their home during previous points in the conflict – “is further proof of the occupation’s efforts to terrorize the residents and displace them from their homes, land, and livelihoods.” The article from Legal Agenda said that the Israeli military had prevented the family from expanding their grazing lands – as their land butted the “occupied Shebaa farm.”

Mayor Hashem continued to outline his reasoning for believing that the intent of the strike was to displace residents of Shebaa – bordering occupied land – saying, “the targeted house was not inhabited by any political party members, nor was there any missile launch site or gunfire position nearby…Why is this family being targeted if the goal isn’t to displace families?”

Speaking to the legacy of the Zahra family, Legal Action wrote: “Locals constantly speak of [the family’s] hard work and toil to earn a living. This family was known for their kindness and respect in their interactions with others, and for the warm smiles they offered to customers buying milk and dairy products.”

Twitter/X user @Alexghdr shared a video showing the family’s house destroyed to rubble, and the torn pages of the Holy Quran lying on the ground.

A correspondent from Al-Araby TV, Ramez Al-Qadi, reported from the site of the strike. In the video, he stands among the rubble. He reports that nine members of the Zahra family were killed in the strike on their home. He added that the neighbouring building three-storey was also destroyed, but it was empty at the time of the strike. The report, which was posted to Youtube the afternoon of the 27th showed civil defense crews, members of the Lebanese Red Cross, at the site – and a bulldozer attempting to move the rubble. The correspondent said that the crews were continuing to search “for the mother and her son” – both of whom were still trapped under the rubble. He added that the crew had been looking to find the pair since the morning hours. Naming the nine Zahra family members who were killed, he noted that their life in Shebaa had been safe until the strike. Ramez closed the segment saying that Israel’s strikes had intensified, as demonstrated not only by the use of more and larger weapons, but by the expanded geographic area under attack.

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