‘All those I loved are gone’: Emotional funerals in Saida for 13 members of the Security Forces killed by Israel

The families and loved ones of the 13 member of the Security Forces killed Friday in an Israeli raid on the Nabatieh serail in southern Lebanon paid tribute to them on Saturday morning during funerals held at the Government Serail in the city of Saida, our correspondent Mountasser Abdallah reports from the scene.

In total, 19 people, including the 13 member of the Security Forces, were killed and around 15 wounded in Israeli strikes targeting the Nabatieh serail. Two successive strikes, carried out with several missiles, hit the administrative building, damaging part of the facade and destroying several offices.

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Hundreds of mourners marched with the coffins, draped in the Lebanese flag and covered with floral wreaths as well as portraits of each victim. "That's my son!", "That's my brother!", "My beloved brother!": cries and sobs rang out among families dressed in black.

‘Why did you leave my son under the bombings?’

One by one, the coffins were carried by the victims' relatives. Mothers, wives, brothers, sisters and children bid their final goodbyes. "Why did you leave my son under the bombings? I asked him many times to stay home!" cried a grieving mother to the authorities.

"I told him to stay in Beirut and he answered me, 'I work for the government, no one can reach me,'" said the wife of another victim, her voice tight with emotion, before adding, "But what government?" In a burst of anger, one grieving father shouted, "What have you done? Why did you withdraw the Lebanese army and leave Israel to enter (the south)? You should have pushed Israel out, not withdrawn the army."

The mother of martyr Khalil Moqdad said bitterly, "Bring me his children. I want to smell him. He had promised to come home so we could have coffee together... and now, he is waiting for me." "All those I loved are gone," said a State Security member.

Since the war between Israel and Hezbollah began on March 2, at least 1,953 people have been killed in Lebanon.