An Israeli bombardment targeted a Syrian refugee camp in the Mazraat Sarda region on Wednesday morning near Wazzani in southern Lebanon, killing a Syrian man and destroying several tents.

The victim's name was Ahmad Mahmoud al-Assaf, a Lebanese resident who knew him confirmed to L'Orient-Le Jour. He had fled Raqqa, in northern Syria, for Lebanon in 2013, reports his neighbor, Abdallah Saleh, and was the father of six children, aged between 20 days and 11 years.

About a month after the start of the war in southern Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israel in October 2023, Ahmad had moved to the Bekaa, his neighbor said.

“But it was humiliating, the rents were too expensive, he had to come back to the South in March,” he added. Ahmad had just renewed his work permit, which would have allowed him to travel to Syria without being bothered at the border, to see his father, who was at the end of his life and whom he had not seen for more than ten years.

“In the end, he was the one who died, and he didn’t even have time to go to Syria,” said Saleh, who stated he is now sheltering “under a tree,” without daring to enter the camp.

“We will try to take refuge in Marjeyoun,” he said.

Protecting your daughter

According to the victim's neighbor, the bombings occurred around 5:30 a.m.

"A first strike took place next to where he lives, so he ran to protect one of his daughters. The second strike killed him. Fortunately, his daughter was far away," he stated. Ahmad's mortal remains will be repatriated and buried in Syria. In the meantime, she is still in Marjayoun Hospital, a source from the hospital confirmed.

According to her, Ahmad was dead when he arrived at the hospital around 6 a.m., after being hit by shrapnel. His body was carried by two civilians before his family arrived.

"The Syrians are still present in these areas, they have not stopped working, and it is not uncommon to see wounded Syrians in the hospital," the medical source said.

Twenty-eight Syrians have been killed since the start of clashes – mainly in the south of the country – between Hezbollah and Israel, in the wake of the Gaza war.

Last weekend, ten Syrians, including two children, were killed in an Israeli strike on the towns of Kfour and Toul, a few kilometers west of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon. This was the deadliest attack in Lebanon since the start of the conflict in southern Lebanon on Oct. 8, 2023. On July 16, five Syrians were killed in Israeli strikes, including three children.

This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.