Smoke rises after an Israeli strike that targeted the campus of the Lebanese University in the Hadath district of Beirut, on March 12, 2026. (Credit: Ibrahim Amro/AFP)
They were in the outdoor courtyard of the faculty of sciences at the Lebanese University in Hadath, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, when an Israeli drone strike targeted them on Thursday. Hussein Bazzi, director of the faculty, and Professor Mortada Srour were killed in this attack, which came amid intensifying Israeli strikes against Lebanon.
The political affiliations of the two killed sparked heated debate on social networks, even before the Israeli army on Friday accused Mortada Srour of being "a member of Hezbollah's aerial unit." What do we know about these two professors?
Hussein Bazzi, affiliated with the Amal movement
Hussein Bazzi, 38, was from Burj al-Barajneh, in the southern suburbs of Beirut. He held a PhD in chemistry and materials physics from Pierre and Marie Curie University in France. He began teaching at the faculty of sciences at the Lebanese University in 2013, where he also worked as a researcher.
In 2021, he obtained a local patent for a dental material composition. Appointed director of the faculty of sciences at the Lebanese University in 2023, he was also the author of numerous scientific articles published in international journals on materials science, nanoparticles, and dental material composition.
After his death was announced, a photo circulating on social networks, purportedly showing Hussein Bazzi alongside Ibrahim Akil, head of Hezbollah's elite unit assassinated by Israel in Beirut in 2024, stirred strong reactions.
However, the information was quickly denied by the Lebanese University on Thursday. Some internet users later indicated that the person in the photo was actually Ahmad Rida Sayyed, a Hezbollah member killed in 2024. However, Hussein Bazzi is reportedly affiliated with the Amal movement: according to a video circulating on social networks, he gave a speech at an iftar organized by the party.
On the university's website, little information is available about Mortada Srour, a physics professor and also the author of several scientific papers. The university's administration could not be reached immediately for comment.
The Israeli army claimed responsibility for the killing of the professor, accusing him of being "a member of Hezbollah's aerial unit (unit 127)." Avichay Adraee, the army's Arabic-language spokesperson, claims Mortada Srour "was considered a significant figure and reference in the field of combat means manufacturing" and was "the brother of Mohammad Hussein Srour, commander of Hezbollah's aerial unit, who was killed during the 'Northern Arrows' operation" launched in September 2024. Adraee also accused "many other Hezbollah members of also working as teachers in various Lebanese universities."
The Lebanese University had already been at the center of controversy during the 2024 war. At the time, reports that weapons had been hidden in a warehouse rented by the Lebanese University in Jnah, in the southern suburbs — a site not part of its campuses — sparked heated controversy before being denied by the university.
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