Ayman Rahal, a soldier in the Lebanese army, was buried in his hometown, Tayr Harfa, on April 6, 2025. Here is his photo alongside his father Abdelatif Rahal, "Abou Ayman." (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'OLJ)
Ayman was 5 years old on Feb. 15, 1978, when Palestinian forces fired from near his village, Tayr Harfa, toward the other side of the border. A first Israeli bomb struck his house, slightly injuring him. His mother grabbed him and ran to their neighbors' house. As several more shells fell in the center of town, at seven months pregnant, his mother was killed instantly.Ayman was pulled from the rubble by his father, Abdelatif Rahal, who had been at the grocer with his one-year-old daughter, Catherine, when the shelling began. The youngest, Caesar, 4, was safe at his grandparents’ home.At the hospital in Sour, doctors wanted to amputate Ayman’s leg, gravely injured at the groin. His father refused and took him to the hospital in Saida, where he believed they would save him. At midnight, Ayman succumbed to his wounds.In 2024, 42-year-old...
Ayman was 5 years old on Feb. 15, 1978, when Palestinian forces fired from near his village, Tayr Harfa, toward the other side of the border. A first Israeli bomb struck his house, slightly injuring him. His mother grabbed him and ran to their neighbors' house. As several more shells fell in the center of town, at seven months pregnant, his mother was killed instantly.Ayman was pulled from the rubble by his father, Abdelatif Rahal, who had been at the grocer with his one-year-old daughter, Catherine, when the shelling began. The youngest, Caesar, 4, was safe at his grandparents’ home.At the hospital in Sour, doctors wanted to amputate Ayman’s leg, gravely injured at the groin. His father refused and took him to the hospital in Saida, where he believed they would save him. At midnight, Ayman succumbed to his wounds.In 2024,...