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HEALTH CARE WORKERS

Civil Defense leader rescued south Lebanon residents from Israeli strikes until one killed him

Abdallah Moussawi was killed along with six other people, most of them members of the Civil Defense, in an Israeli airstrike that targeted the living room of a church in the village of Derdghaiya, in Sour district, on Wednesday.


Civil Defense leader rescued south Lebanon residents from Israeli strikes until one killed him

Abdallah Moussawi, head of the Sour branch in the Civil Defense. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/L'Orient Today)

BEIRUT — It was Sept. 9 and a funeral was being held for three Lebanese Civil Defense volunteers killed in an Israeli drone strike on Froun, in Bint Jbeil. Abdallah Moussawi, the head of the Civil Defense's Sour branch, was there, welcoming as usual, despite the circumstances.

He became increasingly worried about his team, he said, following the strike on Froun. In his opinion, the strike was "a message from the enemy.” When Israel suddenly escalated its bombing campaigns in southern Lebanon on Sept. 23, more and more paramedics were being targeted on duty, but Moussawi kept returning to the field, kept on with the daily rescue operations. “This is our duty and our work,” he said.

On Wednesday, exactly one month after the funeral for his fallen colleagues, Moussawi was killed along with six other people, most of them members of the Civil Defense, in an Israeli airstrike that targeted the living room of a church in the village of Derdghaiya, in Sour district. 

Over the past year of cross-border fighting in a war of attrition, the Israeli army has killed more than 2,000 people in Lebanon, more than half of them in the last three weeks alone. Dozens of paramedics are among those targeted by Israeli strikes.

According to a statement released by the Civil Defense, Moussawi was born in 1961 in the village of Arzoun, in Sour district. He started working for Civil Defense as a contractor in 1997, when he was 34 years old, and joined as permanent staff in 2016. He was married and had three children.

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'Epitome of a courageous employee'

His brother Bassam had followed in his footsteps, becoming a permanent member of the Civil Defense last year, around three months after the war on Gaza began. He was with Moussawi in the church when Israeli jets bombed it and having worked side-by-side, they were then killed side-by-side. A third brother from the family was killed in an Israeli attack in 1996 and another died in a car accident. Moussawi and his brother Bassam leave three siblings behind.

Ali Safieddine, head of the Civil Defense center of the city of Sour, told L'Orient Today that Abdallah had worked relentlessly since the beginning of the conflict, and the Civil Defense statement released after his death described him as "the epitome of a courageous employee in the service of the country and its citizens."

Arzoun's mayor, Hussein al-Husseini, echoed Safieddine's statements on Abdallah's huge contributions.

"Abdallah is a loyal person who sacrificed his life to defend his people in the South," he said. "Despite the danger in all wars, he did not leave." There were long pauses as Husseini spoke to L'Orient Today over the phone and the devastation of this loss could be clearly heard in the silences.

The emotion still in his voice, Husseini said that Israel has attacked Civil Defense centers and health authorities of all kinds. Until the latest escalation, the deadliest attack against medics in Lebanon occurred on March 27, when the Israeli army bombed a medical center in Hebbarieh, Hasbaya district, killing seven first-aid volunteers with the Islamic Emergency and Relief Corps (IERC) of the country-wide NGO Lebanese Succour Association. All seven victims were under the age of 25.

In the last year of attacks, Israel has killed more than 100 rescue workers, according to the Ministry of Health, with a surge in the number killed within the latest escalation of violence.

"I mean, what's next? The Red Cross? Hospitals?" he asked. "I can not describe how big this loss is, but south Lebanon deserves — Lebanon deserves — to live in dignity."

Mohammad Nazzal, who was also among those killed on Wednesday, used to "open roads and remove debris following Israeli airstrikes," Hussein recalled.

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Treasurer of the Arzoun municipality Khalil al-Husseini who moved from his village following the deadly strikes of Sept. 23, called the victims of Wednesday's strike the "martyrs of national duty."

As part of his job, Husseini was in direct contact with many members of team that was killed, and said he felt it was too bad that the Moussawi brothers were not able to enjoy their promotion to permanent staff at the Civil Defense for long before the church was targeted.

"The victims were working under the name of Lebanon, they had no other background," he said. "There was someone called Joseph al-Badawi with them, from the village of Derdghaiya. These people proved the slogan that coexistence between Christians and Muslims is the main characteristic of Lebanon and they embodied this on the ground before becoming martyrs together."

BEIRUT — It was Sept. 9 and a funeral was being held for three Lebanese Civil Defense volunteers killed in an Israeli drone strike on Froun, in Bint Jbeil. Abdallah Moussawi, the head of the Civil Defense's Sour branch, was there, welcoming as usual, despite the circumstances. He became increasingly worried about his team, he said, following the strike on Froun. In his opinion, the strike was "a message from the enemy.” When Israel suddenly escalated its bombing campaigns in southern Lebanon on Sept. 23, more and more paramedics were being targeted on duty, but Moussawi kept returning to the field, kept on with the daily rescue operations. “This is our duty and our work,” he said.On Wednesday, exactly one month after the funeral for his fallen colleagues, Moussawi was killed along with six other people, most of them...