Mahdi Rihane (left) and Ali Sbaity (right), killed on March 16 and 18, 2026, in two Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon. (Background photo received by our correspondent Muntasser Abdallah/Montage by Céline Bejjani/L'Orient-Le Jour)
"If you are an artist and your story deserves to be told, contact me." On Feb. 22, Mahdi Rihane published the fourth episode of his video series titled "The Artists of the South." Armed with a camera, a stabilizer, and a microphone, the young photographer roams the villages of southern Lebanon on his scooter to showcase the work of local craftsmen on his Instagram account, which has more than 11,000 followers. That day, he went to Kafra, not far from Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon, to Ali Sbaity's workshop. The man showed him the extent of his manual talents: the paint spread across his canvases, therapeutic natural soaps for the skin, prayer beads, all homemade from oil and wood sourced from the olive trees in the garden. More lives stolen 'Where is baby Hassan?': Amal Kawtharani and her 3-month-old son killed...
"If you are an artist and your story deserves to be told, contact me." On Feb. 22, Mahdi Rihane published the fourth episode of his video series titled "The Artists of the South." Armed with a camera, a stabilizer, and a microphone, the young photographer roams the villages of southern Lebanon on his scooter to showcase the work of local craftsmen on his Instagram account, which has more than 11,000 followers. That day, he went to Kafra, not far from Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon, to Ali Sbaity's workshop. The man showed him the extent of his manual talents: the paint spread across his canvases, therapeutic natural soaps for the skin, prayer beads, all homemade from oil and wood sourced from the olive trees in the garden. More lives stolen 'Where is baby Hassan?': Amal Kawtharani and her 3-month-old son...