Israeli drone strike kills two from Hezbollah's civilian reconstruction organization

SOUTH LEBANON — The Israeli army killed two engineers working for Hezbollah's civilian reconstruction organization in a drone strike on a car driving east of Kfar Roummane in Nabatieh district in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Ahmed Saad and Mostafa Rizk were employees of Jihad al-Bina ("Struggle for Construction"), founded in 1988 in the wake of Israel's invasion of Lebanon and central to rebuilding the areas of southern Lebanon hard hit in the summer of 2006.

The organization receives funds from Iran, as well as allocations from the Lebanese state and donations from Arab countries, mostly Qatar.

The two victims, residents of Kfar Roummane, were on a mission to the heavily damaged Khiam area to assess the destruction to infrastructure caused by Israeli bombardment and demolition operations during the last war and since the cease-fire. They were killed on their way to one of the sites they were to evaluate, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent in the South.

The attack took place near the Khardali River bridge on the new Jarmaq road, in the bordering Jezzine district, north of the Litani River. Videos and photos from the scene show the car engulfed in flames.

The Order of Engineers issued a statement after the attack, paying tribute to their "two colleagues," killed while "performing their professional and national duty."

"Our two colleagues fell as martyrs in the performance of duty, just as the order and the engineering family were celebrating the 'Lebanese Engineer and Architect's Day,' the holiday thus transformed into a day of loyalty and sacrifice, embodying the highest values of commitment, belonging and generosity," the statement reads.

"Engineering work in the field will remain a pillar of resilience, and of reconstruction, despite all the risks and challenges," the order stated.

Reporting contributed by our correspondent in southern Lebanon, Muntasser Abdallah.