Holding on to hope – Brother returns to Beirut strike site every day in search of his missing sister after Israeli attack

Article by Viory

Ali Abboud returns every day to the rubble of a damaged apartment block in Beirut’s Ain el-Mreisseh district, clinging to the hope that rescue teams will recover the body of his 26-year-old sister, Zahraa, after a strike hit the family’s temporary home on April 8.

Footage filmed on Thursday showed the destroyed building, as Ali returned to the scene with his sister’s belongings, while rescue teams continued working on site.

“We managed to find everyone our family knew. But [my sister] Zahraa is still missing, and so far we have no information about her,” he said.

“We hope to find something, just to have some peace of mind. We are not okay; we come here every day and search,” he added.

Abboud described Zahraa as the youngest member of the family and the one dearest to his heart, saying the 26-year-old had barely had the chance to live. He said the family was holding on to faith as they waited for answers.

“If Zahraa has been martyred, then that is an honour for us. And if she is still alive, then that is a blessing from God. In the end, we give thanks to God in hardship and in ease, but no one can ever replace a sister,” he concluded.

Dubbed by Lebanese media as ‘Black Wednesday,’ on April 8, Israel carried out one of its largest bombardments in Lebanon since the 1982 invasion, killing 303 people and injuring 1,150, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

The IDF said it conducted its largest coordinated strike since the launch of Operation Roaring Lion, targeting more than 100 Hezbollah command centres and military sites. The military noted that the wave of attacks simultaneously hit Hezbollah positions in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon.

Tensions in the Middle East escalated after Israel and the United States launched military operations against Iran on February 28, prompting Tehran to retaliate with strikes on Israel and US military sites across the region.

The confrontation later spilt into Lebanon, where Hezbollah said it had entered the conflict in response to the killing of Iran’s supreme leader.

Article by Viory

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