Lebanese father loses family in Israeli airstrike; son, 5, survives

​​​​​​​By Mahmut Geldi and Wassim Samih Seifeddine

BEIRUT (AA) - Abdullah Hijazi lost his family except for his 5-year-old son in an Israeli airstrike on Lebanon as tensions continue to rise in the region.

“Israel needs to fight with soldiers; it shouldn’t use its power against defenseless civilians,” Hijazi told Anadolu.

The Israeli army launched intense airstrikes Sept. 23, targeting the southern and eastern regions of Lebanon after nearly a year of controlled clashes with the Lebanese group, Hezbollah.

Among the hundreds of airstrikes by Israeli warplanes was the one that struck the Hijazi family home in Ansar town in southern Lebanon.

The attack killed nine people, but young Haidar Hijazi survived. He was pulled from the rubble by civil defense teams.

Haidar, who suffered serious facial injuries and remains unconscious, is receiving treatment at the Lebib Hospital in Saida.

The Hijazi family was forced to migrate from near the Israeli border, said Hijazi, adding the three-story building where they lived in the town of Ansar was targeted by an airstrike.

“I was outside at that time. Nine people in the house died, and my son was rescued with the help of the civil defense teams.”

As tears streamed down his face, Hijazi reflected on his desperate attempts to protect his family.

“We came to the town of Ansar. I fled to save myself and my family from the air bombardment, but Israel did not let up until it killed them. This child is only 5 years old; isn’t that a pity?” he said.

Hijazi added that Haidar’s consciousness has not yet returned and expressed deep concern about the many fractures and bruises he sustained in the attack.

Israel has pounded Lebanon since early Monday in strikes that have killed more than 700 victims and injured nearly 2,200, according to figures released by the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel's onslaught against the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 41,500 victims, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, last Oct. 7.

The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, as they raise the specter of turning the Gaza conflict into a regional war.