Israeli strike kills infant in south Lebanon as family mourns father

BEIRUT: An Israeli strike on a family home in southern Lebanon killed an infant girl and other relatives as the family had returned to bury her father, according to details reported from the village of Srifa.

Aline Saeed, 7, was among those who survived the attack on the Saeed family home last week. She had gone back to the village for her father’s funeral at a time when many in Lebanon had hoped a US-Iran ceasefire announced on Wednesday might also ease violence in their country. Instead, the strike killed her infant sister and other family members.

The attack took place on Wednesday, the first day of the ceasefire between the United States and Iran. Israeli strikes that day killed more than 350 people across Lebanon, while the Saeed family was left with four more relatives to bury.

“They said it was a ceasefire. Like all these people, we went up to the village. We went to the casket to read the prayers and walk home.. suddenly we felt like a storm was landing right on us, Nasser Saeed, Aline’s 64-year-old grandfather, said. He also survived the strike.

On Sunday, he joined relatives in the southern port city of Tyre to collect the bodies, which were wrapped in green cloth. One of the bodies was that of his granddaughter Taleen, Aline’s sister, who had not yet turned two. Nasser Saeed, with bandages on his head and right hand and scratches on his face, stood in mourning as women around him cried out in grief.

The Israeli military said it did not have enough details to examine the incident. It takes steps to limit civilian casualties in strikes targeting Hezbollah.

Heavy bombardment continues

The latest war in Lebanon began on March 2, when Hezbollah fired on Israeli positions in support of Iran. Since then, Israel has intensified its air and ground operations in Lebanon, where more than 2,000 people have been killed, including 165 children and nearly 250 women.

Pope Leo said on Sunday that he felt close to the “beloved Lebanese people” and called for a ceasefire. In his weekly address in St Peter’s Square, he said there was “a moral obligation to protect the civilian population from the horrific effects of war.”

Wednesday was described as one of the deadliest days in Lebanon’s recent history.

“This isn't humanity. This is a war crime”, Nasser Saeed told Reuters at the hospital where Aline’s mother, Ghinwa, was still receiving treatment.

“Where are the human rights? If a child, a child!, is wounded in Israel, the whole world jumps up. Are we not people? Are we not humans? We're like them!”, he said.

Taleen had been born in 2024 during the previous round of intense fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.

“She was born in the war and died in the war”, said Mohammed Nazzal, Ghinwa’s father.

Iran wants a ceasefire in Lebanon to be part of its talks with the United States, which ended on Sunday without a breakthrough. Israel, however, wants to continue discussions with Lebanese officials on a separate track.

Bombardment in Lebanon has continued heavily, with nearly 100 people killed on Saturday. Dr Abbas Attiyeh, head of emergency operations at Tyre’s Jabal Amel hospital, said the bombardment last week was among the heaviest in recent years and that many of those arriving for treatment were children.

“The challenges we're facing now are the numbers of wounded that come at the same time, within the same 30 minutes or hour”, Attiyeh told Reuters.