Originally from Mansouri, Mohammad Jaber observes Israel's strikes on his village in southern Lebanon from nearby Hennieh, on Aug. 26, 2026. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L’Orient-Le Jour)
Under a straw-covered pergola by the roadside, about a dozen men sit in a circle waiting. The strip of asphalt that cuts through Qleileh’s banana plantations and leads to their village of Mansouri is blocked a kilometer farther by a Lebanese Army checkpoint. Beyond that starts the occupied zone. There, Israel carries out daily demolitions, with particular ferocity on homes built along the hillside, within sight but inaccessible: their own houses. Read more Mansouri's mayor condemns ‘systematic’ destruction of town, fears imminent Israeli occupation "Last week, Abu Ibrahim watched his house and those of his sons get destroyed," says Hisham Haidar on Wednesday, solemn and stern in his white t-shirt. On his chair, a man with a lined face hidden behind thick glasses nods helplessly. Hisham, for his part, flits between the...
Under a straw-covered pergola by the roadside, about a dozen men sit in a circle waiting. The strip of asphalt that cuts through Qleileh’s banana plantations and leads to their village of Mansouri is blocked a kilometer farther by a Lebanese Army checkpoint. Beyond that starts the occupied zone. There, Israel carries out daily demolitions, with particular ferocity on homes built along the hillside, within sight but inaccessible: their own houses. Read more Mansouri's mayor condemns ‘systematic’ destruction of town, fears imminent Israeli occupation "Last week, Abu Ibrahim watched his house and those of his sons get destroyed," says Hisham Haidar on Wednesday, solemn and stern in his white t-shirt. On his chair, a man with a lined face hidden behind thick glasses nods helplessly. Hisham, for his part, flits between...