Lebanese Woman’s Four Escapes from Israeli Bombing End in Loss

Rihab Faour evacuated her residence. She subsequently relocated multiple times, a total of four instances. By the fourth relocation, occurring a year after the initial displacement, the continuous evasion of Israeli bombings had rendered no location in Lebanon feeling secure for her. Her series of displacements commenced in October 2023, following an attack by Hamas on Israel. This event led Hezbollah, identified as a Lebanese political and militant organization, to launch rockets into Israel, prompting Israel to respond with bombing operations in southern Lebanon. The proximity of Israeli bomb impacts to Rihab’s village compelled the 33-year-old and her husband Saeed, who worked for the municipal water company, to gather their daughters, Tia, eight, and Naya, six, and seek refuge at Rihab’s parents’ residence in Dahieh, a suburb situated near the capital city of Beirut. For a period in Dahieh, daily life proceeded with near normalcy, apart from Naya and Tia’s longing for their friends, their own beds, their toys, and the clothes they had been forced to abandon. Their greatest desire was to return to school, which had been substituted by online education. Their excitement grew in August when Rihab registered them at a new school in Beirut and purchased brand new school uniforms for them. However, prior to their anticipated first day of school, Israel extended its bombing campaign in Lebanon to encompass areas of Beirut, specifically the Dahieh suburb where the family had established their temporary home. Israel was conducting assassinations of senior Hezbollah figures within the suburb, employing substantial, bunker-busting bombs, each possessing the capacity to demolish a residential structure. In certain attacks, Israel deployed dozens of these munitions simultaneously, resulting in the flattening of entire city blocks. Consequently, the Faour family gathered their belongings and relocated once more, this time to a rented dwelling in Jnah, another neighborhood of Beirut. Following a significant air strike in Jnah, they relocated to Saeed’s parents’ residence in the Barbour neighborhood. In that location, they resided with 17 additional individuals within a single house, creating extremely crowded conditions. Nevertheless, for Tia and Naya, now aged nine and seven respectively, being constantly surrounded by their cousins brought a unique sense of happiness. This contentment was so profound that even when Rihab’s father, a retired Lebanese army sergeant, secured a rental apartment in the Basta neighborhood exclusively for the four of them, the girls expressed reluctance to leave. “Naya begged us to stay there with all the family,” Rihab recounted. “We told her we just had to go for one sleep in this new house, then we would come straight back to the family and to all the children.” She then proposed a compromise to the girls: if they agreed to stay at the new apartment, they could select their dinner. Consequently, en route to their new residence, they paused to purchase rotisserie chicken and other delicacies from a store. At approximately 7:30 pm, with the streets still bustling with activity, the family arrived at a dilapidated building in Basta, located in central Beirut. In 2006, during the preceding conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, bombing operations were restricted to specific regions of Lebanon, including the south, Dahieh, and selected infrastructure targets. On this occasion, as high-ranking Hezbollah members dispersed across the nation, Israel conducted bombing strikes in their various locations. This strategic shift resulted in bombing incidents occurring in areas previously considered secure, such as parts of central Beirut. These broader circumstances did not preoccupy Tia and Naya as the family transferred their possessions into the new apartment. At that moment, the girls’ primary focus was on rejoining their cousins as soon as possible. In contrast to Saeed’s parents’ house, the newly acquired Basta apartment was equipped with running water and an electricity generator. The girls expressed contentment upon realizing the family finally possessed their own private space. Rihab and Saeed experienced a slight easing of tension. It is probable that an Israeli drone was operating overhead, but its sound had become so ubiquitous over Beirut that it could be disregarded. Rihab arranged the food and treats on the table. “We sat down to eat and we were talking and laughing,” she stated. “And that was it, my last memory of them.” The explosive device was a US-manufactured Jdam. It struck the building on 10 October at approximately 8 pm, thirty minutes after the family’s arrival. The impact razed all three storeys, damaged portions of neighboring buildings and vehicles, and resulted in the deaths of 22 individuals, including men, women, and children, thereby marking it as the most lethal strike on central Beirut since the commencement of hostilities a year prior. The Israeli military did not issue any prior warning before the strike, leading to the building being occupied by numerous people. Israel was reportedly aiming for Wafiq Safa, who heads Hezbollah’s co-ordination and liaison unit, but Safa was not subsequently reported among the fatalities. He either survived the incident or was not present at the location initially. The IDF chose not to provide a statement regarding the strike or the absence of a preceding warning. Rihab regained consciousness at Beirut’s Zahraa Hospital, experiencing immobility. Her back and arm had sustained severe injuries, necessitating a minimum of two surgical procedures. She intermittently lost and regained consciousness. Her memory of the period between sharing laughter with her daughters at dinner and her awakening in the hospital was entirely absent. As she remained hospitalized that night, her family conducted searches across Beirut’s hospitals. By midnight, they had confirmed the deaths of Saeed and Tia. DNA testing would be necessary to verify Naya’s death, along with another girl of similar age who was also brought to the same hospital, due to injuries that precluded direct identification. Rihab’s medical team recommended that her family withhold this information from her. They were concerned that, given her impending significant surgery, the news would be overwhelming. Consequently, for a period of two weeks, while she underwent and recuperated from her operations, her mother Basima assured her that Saeed and the girls were receiving treatment at separate hospitals. However, Rihab perceived that an issue existed and started to demand to see photographs and videos of her daughters. “She could feel it in her heart,” Basima stated. Eleven days subsequent to the strike, DNA analysis confirmed Tia’s death, and on the 15th day, a hospital psychiatrist informed Rihab that Saeed and the girls had perished. Six weeks thereafter, Rihab was observed seated in a rigid plastic chair within a Beirut apartment, her eyes shadowed and her face gaunt. She continued her recovery from surgical procedures, which involved the insertion of eight screws into her spine and an additional three into her arm. Having been recumbent for an extended duration, she was now attempting to sit upright more frequently and to walk short distances, despite experiencing pain with each movement. Naya’s eighth birthday had occurred four days prior. Rihab reported spending her time “either crying or sleeping.” Nevertheless, she expressed a desire to discuss her family. “Naya was very attached to me, she followed me wherever I went. Tia loved her grandparents and she was happy if I left her with them. Both of the girls loved drawing, they loved playing with toys, they missed going to school. They would play teacher and student together for hours.” Their favorite activity was watching videos together on TikTok. Rihab and Saeed believed the girls were too young to upload their own videos online, so Rihab would record them dancing and playing, informing the girls she was sharing these on the application, which appeared to content them for the time being. Saeed entered Rihab’s life in 2013. Rihab grew up in Beirut, but her family regularly visited the village of Mays El Jabal during the summer months due to its cooler climate and rural surroundings. It was during one such summer that she was introduced to Saeed through shared acquaintances. Rihab earned her undergraduate law degree and commenced studies for a master’s, but the couple subsequently became engaged and married. Tia was born shortly thereafter, prompting Rihab to pause her developing legal career. Presently, amidst her profound grief, she has tentatively considered resuming her studies. “I am going to need something to fill my days,” she remarked. Saeed and Tia were interred the day following their deaths by Rihab’s father and uncles, placed in temporary wooden caskets within an unmarked grave in Dahieh. Two weeks subsequent, the male family members excavated the same location again and buried Naya. Rihab’s uncle positioned two artificial cherry blossom sprigs on the grave, symbolizing the two girls, and later, an unidentified individual placed a wreath for a stranger interred adjacent to them. Subsequently, an Israeli air strike impacted the structure immediately next to the cemetery, and the ensuing blast wave and debris shattered gravestones and disturbed the surrounding earth. Concurrently, another Israeli air strike struck the family residence in Dahieh, annihilating several possessions Rihab had wished to retain, among them two new, unworn school uniforms. Shortly thereafter, the conflict concluded. A ceasefire declared last week enabled thousands of displaced individuals to return to their villages in southern Lebanon. Rihab and Saeed’s village experienced extensive bombing by the Israelis, and their family home there was destroyed, according to her uncle. However, Rihab is unable to return home regardless, as she will require a backbrace for several additional months and is consequently unable to travel. As news of the ceasefire brought widespread relief across Lebanon, fresh images surfaced of Wafiq Safa, who was reportedly the intended target of the bomb that resulted in the deaths of Saeed, Tia, Naya, and 19 other individuals. Safa had not been publicly observed since the attack, but he appeared to be alive and in good health. Additional reporting was provided by Joanna Mazjoub, with photographs by Joel Gunter.