The funeral of the Lebanese soldier Mahmoud Zeitoun in his hometown, Akkar al-Atika, on April 21, 2025. (Credit: Michel Hallak)
A ceremony was held Monday in Toul, in South Lebanon’s Nabatieh district, to honor the officer and two soldiers killed in an explosion on Sunday.
Their vehicle detonated while they were transporting unexploded munitions on the Breikeh road, ahead of their funerals in their hometowns, according to the state-run National News Agency (NNA).
During this ceremony, organized in the courtyard of Sheikh Ragheb Harb Hospital, the coffins of the victims were carried on the shoulders of soldiers, wrapped in the Lebanese flag, while their relatives threw flowers and sang funeral songs. A group of soldiers gave a military salute to the three victims before their remains were transported in army ambulances to their burial sites.
The body of Ali Ibrahim Ahmad was taken to Hazerta, in Bekaa, that of Jawdat Salim Noura to Blat, in the Marjayoun district of South Lebanon, and the remains of Mahmoud Zeitoun to Akkar al-Atika, in North Lebanon.
The arrival of the latter's funeral procession in Akkar was greeted with songs, flowers and rice showers, and fireworks at the entrance of the villages crossed, according to information from our local correspondent. A ceremony then took place at the mosque of Akkar al-Atika, in the presence of representatives of the Minister of Defense, the army chief of staff, and local dignitaries.
The victim's body was then buried in the village cemetery. The army chief's representative delivered a speech in which he conveyed the condolences of the troops to the lieutenant's family and recounted his military career. Zeitoun joined the army as a cadet sergeant in 2013 and was promoted to lieutenant in late 2024. He received several medals and congratulations from the army command on several occasions. The army specified in a statement released Sunday that Lieutenant Zeitoun was born in 1992 and was married.
In the same statement, it noted that soldier Ahmad, who had just celebrated his 38th birthday on April 19, joined the army in 2008 and was married with three children. Noura, 33, joined the troops in 2014 and was decorated on several occasions. He was single.
Five civilians, including a child, were injured Sunday in Breikeh. The circumstances of the munitions explosion are still unclear.
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