The Tiryaki family’s fridge was still stocked with the previous night’s leftovers on Saturday morning. A basket of onions sat in the corner, somehow untouched amid shattered glass and soot. Only the kitchen remained intact; the rest of the apartment was mangled and burned beyond recognition.
Hours earlier, Ali Al Tiryaki, his wife Yumna, and their two adult sons Hassan and Abdullah were sleeping peacefully in their home. But at 7:15 am, an Israeli strike hit their second-floor apartment in a three-storey residential building in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, killing all four family members.
“They were a normal family. They’ve been living in that house for the last 13 years,” said Ahmad, a first-floor resident of the building who declined to share his family name. He was in his home when he felt the force of the blast from the attack.
“May God have mercy on their souls.”
He spoke as he ushered his mother into their car. They had fled the building immediately after the attack but returned a few hours later to gather some belongings, like the rest of the neighbours. The building now stood empty.
Ahmad described the Tiryaki family as ordinary. Mr Tiryaki’s sons would cut their hair at the barbershop across the street and were well-known in their neighbourhood.
“There were no displaced people living inside [the apartment],” Ahmad said. “No outsiders, no strangers. No strange movement, no suspicious activity. Nothing.”
A neighbour from the building across the street implied – without giving evidence – that the head of the family, Ali Tiryaki, may have been affiliated with the Islamic Group, a Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which fought alongside Hezbollah during its last war against Israel between 2023 and 2024. It is also a political party with parliamentary representation.
The sudden killing of an ordinary Lebanese family is not the first since war between Hezbollah and Israel reignited earlier this month, and many believe it is not the last.
Their death resurfaces growing fears that many Lebanese hold – that potential Israeli targets are among them. As the war between Israel and Hezbollah continues, with Israel lashing out at any perceived threat, many Lebanese have come to ask themselves: How can such potential targets be distinguished?
“Of course we didn’t think our building would get hit. Who knows where and what they’ll hit next,” Ahmad told The National.
An air of uncertainty has tainted Lebanon as concern grows over what may come next.
Attacking civilians
In recent days, Israel has expanded its military campaign in Lebanon, striking Lebanese infrastructure and civilian areas beyond those where Hezbollah traditionally holds sway. The escalation comes amid reports that Israel is preparing for a long war, including a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, a source with knowledge of the military campaign told The National.
On Friday, the Israeli army dropped leaflets onto parts of the capital, Beirut, calling on Lebanese to collaborate with its military intelligence branch. Another leaflet compared Lebanon to Gaza, referring to Israeli attacks as “the new reality”.
More than 826 people in Lebanon have been killed since fighting between Hezbollah and Israel resumed on March 2.
Overnight on Saturday, Israel conducted its biggest strike against medical workers killing 12 people – all doctors, rescuers and nurses working in a medical centre in Burj Qalaouiyah in south Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil District.
“It was a direct hit,” a representative of the Islamic Health Organisation told The National. Under international humanitarian law, medical workers are protected regardless of their political affiliation.
So far, 26 paramedics have been killed and 51 wounded in Israeli attacks since the conflict erupted, according to the Health Ministry.
In a separate attack, a house in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh was also destroyed in an Israeli strike, killing at least seven people, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency. Six of the people identified were members of the same family, who lived in the house that was targeted.
Isolating the south
Israel attacked more Lebanese infrastructure on Saturday, amid reports that its military is preparing for a broader invasion south of the Litani river.
An Israeli air strike on the Khardali bridge, one of the key crossings over the Litani, made the road extremely “dangerous and difficult” to pass, according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency. The Khardali bridge links the road from the city of Nabatieh to Marjayoun and the eastern region of south Lebanon. Another strike took out the Dibine-Marjayoun road, one of the alternative routes leading South, completely isolating southern villages in the eastern sector.
“We’re completely on our own now. There are no more roads, and all supply lines have been cut,” a resident of the border town of Marjayoun told The National.
Earlier this week, Israel also hit two bridges that span the Litani river. Its military claimed Hezbollah fighters were using the bridges to move between the Lebanon’s north and south, without providing evidence to back its claim.
The strikes were “a message to the Lebanese state” that Israel would attack “any infrastructure used by Hezbollah inside Lebanon to target the State of Israel.”
This was the first time the Israeli army publicly acknowledged hitting Lebanese infrastructure.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for the war to end through diplomacy and dialogue during a visit to Lebanon.
“We have witnessed widespread destruction in Lebanon, and there are fears that the south could turn into barren land, while Beirut’s southern suburbs face the risk of bombardment and even complete destruction,” he said.
Fear in Lebanon continues to mount as civilian deaths rise and infrastructure is targeted.
“They're striking civilians intentionally," said a neighbor of the Tiryaki family. "They're pressuring us toward internal division."
