On the afternoon of May 29, 2025, municipal worker Mahmoud Atwi was killed in an alleged Israeli drone strike in the the Ali al-Taher forest in the Nabatieh governorate. Mahmoud reportedly worked for the municipality of Nabatieh al-Fawqa and was fixing a water station when he was killed.

Mahmoud’s affiliation with the municipality of Nabatieh al-Fawqa was confirmed by multiple sources. He was also known as Abu Qais, as mentioned by accounts like @Ziyad Hammoud (Facebook).

According to reports such as @AlAkhbarNews and @waqa2e3 (X.com), Mahmoud had just arrived at the site to operate or restore a water station for residential homes in the neighbourhood, after it had reportedly been cut off due to damage from earlier Israeli strikes.

Mahmoud is described by multiple sources (e.g. @AmalKhalil83 X.com) as ‘hardworking’. Accompanying pictures show a middle-aged man with a mustache, wearing a yellow vest; another showed Mahmoud participating in what seems to be an Ashura event for Shia Muslims, wearing a white t-shirt with blood or red paint dripping down his head and over his shirt, and holding a toy sword or knife. In another picture, Mahmoud stands on top of a water truck and sprays water onto a fire. Others show a middle-aged man standing by a door, wearing a black jacket and coat, and holding a green scarf.

In pictures posted by @ياسر غندور / Yasser Ghandour (Facebook) Mahmoud is seen doing work on water drains, water hoses, spraying plants and maintenance work.

Friend Ziad Hamoud expressed the sorrow he had at the loss of Abu Qais: “Where are you, my brother? I’m waiting for you as usual at the home of your cousin, Hajj Nour Atwi, as we do every day, at this precise time, to sit together and chat, filling the place with your resonant voice.” Hamoud had just spoken to Mahmoud the day before he was killed “I met you at the Al-Deir neighborhood intersection and asked you where you were going. You told me, “I’m going up to the forest, Ali Al-Tahir, to divert the water.”

Others such as @rolaHKO (X.com) posted a picture of Mahmoud smiling, wearing a pink shirt.

An image posted by Maryam Qandeel also shows Mahmoud holding an Amal flag, a political party that has at different times operated a militia, and is largely allied with Hezbollah.

Mahmoud was also remembered as a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) by Facebook user @Abbas Khalifeh. Abbas and @Houssen Deeb both remembered Mahmoud as “comrade,” with Abbas sharing an image of Mahmoud at what appears to be a parade, wearing a kind of black outfit that borders on a militant costume. The SSNP was founded as an anticolonial political organisation in 1932, largely in response to French colonial rule. While the organisation also has a history of militant activity, particularly in the contexts of a coup d’etat attempts in 1949 and 1961, the Lebanon War in 1982, and Israeli occupation of parts of southern Lebanon from the early 1980s until 2000, there are no reports that the organisation has not been involved in militant activity in recent history, particularly since October 7, 2023.

In addition, images shared by Facebook account National Education Scouts, Nabatieh Al-Fawqa Troop showed Mahmoud’s funeral procession, which included a large poster with a photo of Mahmoud and the municipality’s logo. Such posters are quite common in Lebanon, and are frequently referred to as ‘martyr posters’. The posters, like Mahmoud’s, frequently include a logo which identifies the individual’s political, militant, or local affiliations. As Mahmoud’s poster includes his municipality’s logo, rather than a political or militant group, it seems unlikely that Mahmoud was actively involved in militant activity. This, along with no no evidence that the organisations with which Mahmoud was reportedly affiliated with – namely Amal and the SSNP – are active militarily, lead Airwars to classify Mahmoud as a civilian. This will be updated should additional information become available.

Additional pictures shared by of the National Education Scouts, Nabatieh Al-Fawqa Troop show a large procession of people accompanying Mahmoud’s body as it’s led through the street. Other pictures from Mahmoud’s funeral show men carrying a flowered wreath, which is ultimately pictured lying against Mahmoud’s casket.

Several accounts such as @دومينو سياسية / Political dominoes (Facebook) noted that Mahmoud was killed while he was riding his motorcycle, with images shared by Facebook users @Sara Al Haj ali reportedly show the charred remains of his bike. The background of the images also show the remains of equipment that was ostensibly impacted in the strike as well – with burnt metal, tires and other material lying charred on the ground. There is no mention of any remains of the explosive used in the strike visible in the images.

One picture posted by several sources like for example news site @AlAkhbarNews (X.com) show people and vehicles at the alleged site of the incident. Another picture shared by Facebook account ‘Men of Promise 3’ shows a road and smoke coming from the site of the incident, though the remains the a motorcycle shared by Sara are not visible.

@Abbas Khalifeh and @Houssen Deeb reported that Mahmoud’s brother, Mustafa Atwi, was reportedly killed in the same area in the 1990s. The National News Agency (NNA), which operates under the Lebanese Ministry of Information and serves as the state-run news agency reported on Mahmoud’s death as well, and also referred to Mustafa’s death in the same area.

Where sources identified a belligerent, they attributed the incident to an Israeli drone strike.