{"id":393831,"date":"2026-04-15T18:22:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T18:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/393831\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T18:22:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T18:22:11","slug":"number-of-children-killed-in-israeli-strikes-in-lebanon-rises-to-172","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/393831\/","title":{"rendered":"Number of children killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon rises to 172"},"content":{"rendered":"

BEIRUT (AP) \u2014 Jawad Younes, 11, and his cousins were playing soccer in the lot between their houses, as they often did. His little brother, 4-year-old Mehdi, had joined them but grew tired, so Jawad took him home before returning to the game. Minutes later, an Israeli strike<\/a> came.<\/p>\n

The target was Jawad\u2019s uncle\u2019s home. The blast shook buildings and threw Jawad\u2019s siblings at home to the ground. Their mother scrambled to help them but already had a feeling of dread.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was pulling my children off the floor in the house, but as I was running to pick them up, I screamed, \u2018Jawad,\u2019\u201d Malak Meslmani said. \u201cMy heart told me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her son was killed in the March 27<\/a> strike in Saksakieh. So was a cousin \u2014 so close they were more like brothers. Several other children were wounded.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"FILE<\/p>\n

FILE \u2014 Malak Meslmani, center, the mother of Jawad Younes, 11, who was was killed in an Israeli airstrike, mourns over her son\u2019s body during his funeral procession in Saksakieh village, south Lebanon, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/Hussein Malla, File)<\/p>\n

FILE \u2014 Malak Meslmani, center, the mother of Jawad Younes, 11, who was was killed in an Israeli airstrike, mourns over her son\u2019s body during his funeral procession in Saksakieh village, south Lebanon, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/Hussein Malla, File)<\/p>\n

Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n

Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Jawad\u2019s uncle also was killed. He was an interior design engineer; Jawad wanted to be an engineer like him. Meslmani called him a civilian. But like many Shiite families<\/a> in southern Lebanon, the family were loyal supporters of the militant group and political party Hezbollah<\/a>, which formed in the 1980s to fight Israel\u2019s occupation of the area.<\/p>\n

Jawad and his cousin are among 172 children killed \u2014 of more than 2,100 people in all \u2014 by Israel\u2019s strikes in the six weeks of renewed war<\/a> between the country and Iran-backed Hezbollah<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Israel has often struck alleged Hezbollah militants or officials in their homes without warning, frequently in areas far from the front line when they are with their families, in apartment buildings surrounded by uninvolved neighbors. The Israeli military rarely names the targets of its strikes but says it takes measures to minimize civilian casualties<\/a> \u2014 including children \u2014 and blames Hezbollah members for mixing with the general population. The families of children killed accuse Israel of committing war crimes because of the large number of civilian casualties.<\/p>\n

At least two Israeli civilians \u2014 both adults \u2014 and 13 soldiers have been killed in the current war with Hezbollah, according to figures from Israel. One of the civilians was killed by mistaken Israeli fire.<\/p>\n

In response to questions from The Associated Press, the Israeli military didn\u2019t deny that children have been killed in its Lebanon strikes but said it has targeted Hezbollah facilities and militants. The army says it\u2019s killed hundreds of Hezbollah operatives but has provided little evidence to support the claim.<\/p>\n

Under international law governing armed conflict<\/a>, it\u2019s never legal to directly target civilians, but collateral damage \u2014 harm to civilians when striking a military target \u2014 is allowed if it is proportional to the anticipated military gains of any given strike.<\/p>\n

The Israeli military told AP in a statement that its strikes follow the law, including \u201cthe principles of distinction, proportionality, and the taking of precautions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Charles Trumbull, an assistant University of South Carolina law professor who studies the law and ethics of armed conflict, said it\u2019s difficult to assess whether the proportionality threshold was met without knowing the strike targets and whether the military knew children were present.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo the extent that they knew that children were likely to be harmed or killed in these strikes, and as an ethical matter, absolutely I think that should affect the calculus,\u201d he said. \u201cJust because certain strikes might not violate the law on conflict doesn\u2019t mean that they\u2019re not concerning or problematic or that they are morally justified.\u201d<\/p>\n

Children crushed under their own homes<\/p>\n

At 2 a.m. March 12, Taline Shehab \u2014 who would have turned 4 last month \u2014 was sleeping when missiles tore into an apartment above hers in the family\u2019s building in Aramoun, about 20 km (12 miles) south of Beirut, causing it to collapse. Taline and her father died; her mother was critically wounded. <\/p>\n

Aramoun is a religiously mixed area that was generally considered safe, though it had been targeted by airstrikes in the previous Israel-Hezbollah war, in 2024.<\/p>\n

Taline\u2019s father, Mohamad, was a drone operator and video producer who often worked with the Lebanese army and on high-profile television productions. He and his wife, Nathalie, ran a fashion company; Taline appeared regularly on its social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were a very close family. Their daily life revolved around their daughter,\u201d said Ali Shehab, Mohamad\u2019s brother.<\/p>\n

Taline \u201cwas full of personality,\u201d he said. \u201cShe was very attached to her father. She loved being around him\u201d and \u201cdidn\u2019t like to share him with anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

He comforts himself with the thought that \u201cmaybe Mohammed and Taline, because they are so attached to each other, God chose them both.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta, who\u2019s worked extensively in Gaza<\/a> and Lebanon and runs an initiative treating some of the most seriously war-wounded children at the American University of Beirut Medical Center, said that, like Taline, most of the cases he has seen are \u201cchildren being crushed underneath the rubble of their own homes.\u201d <\/p>\n

A lifetime shadowed by war and loss<\/p>\n

Ten-year-old Zeinab al-Jabali used to tag along wherever her father went: the corner store, the mountains around their village in Lebanon\u2019s Bekaa Valley<\/a>. <\/p>\n

On March 5, she was helping to prepare for iftar, the meal ending the daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan<\/a>, when an airstrike hit her aunt\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Hassan,<\/p>\n

Hassan, the father of Zeinab al-Jabali, 10, who was killed on March 5, 2026, in an Israeli airstrike that hit her house in Libbaya village, east of Lebanon, shows a picture of his daughter, Zainab, during an interview at the office of doctor Ghassan Abu Sitta Fund, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo\/Bilal Hussein)<\/p>\n

Hassan, the father of Zeinab al-Jabali, 10, who was killed on March 5, 2026, in an Israeli airstrike that hit her house in Libbaya village, east of Lebanon, shows a picture of his daughter, Zainab, during an interview at the office of doctor Ghassan Abu Sitta Fund, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo\/Bilal Hussein)<\/p>\n

Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n

Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Now, Hassan al-Jabali sleeps in the Beirut hospital where doctors are treating his wife and three remaining daughters, all wounded in the strike that killed Zeinab.<\/p>\n

War has shadowed most of his life. In 1982, his brother \u2014 then 10, like Zeinab \u2014 was killed by an Israeli missile.<\/p>\n

Al-Jabali made a living selling mouneh, or preserved foods such as raisins and dried herbs, and worked for his cousin\u2019s factory producing laban, or yogurt.<\/p>\n

Al-Jabali acknowledged his brother-in-law \u2014 who was killed \u2014 \u201cin the past was with the resistance,\u201d referring to Hezbollah.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut they struck him at home, in a house full of children, full of girls,\u201d said al-Jabali, who heard the blast from elsewhere in the village and found a scene of carnage when he rushed to check on his family. <\/p>\n

He said his wife still doesn\u2019t know Zeinab is dead; he\u2019s afraid the grief would endanger her recovery.<\/p>\n

\u2018I remember everything\u2019<\/p>\n

In response to questions about the strikes that killed Jawad, Taline, and Zeinab, the Israeli military didn\u2019t give details about the intended targets beyond that they were related to Hezbollah.<\/p>\n

The military\u2019s statement said Israel regrets any civilian harm but that it\u2019s operating against Hezbollah, \u201cwhich attacked the State of Israel under Iranian backing.\u201d <\/p>\n

Many Lebanese have blamed Hezbollah for pulling their country into the war when it fired missiles<\/a> across the border March 2, two days after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran<\/a>. But for others, the devastation from Israeli strikes has strengthened their support.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are now holding onto the resistance more than any time before,\u201d said Meslmani, Jawad\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n

Despite Israeli army notices for residents in large swathes of southern Lebanon to flee, many in their town of Saksakieh stayed. Displaced people from farther south took refuge there. Life felt almost normal before the strike that killed Jawad.<\/p>\n

Now, Meslmani visits his grave in a small cemetery overlooking a mountain vista, where she can hear warplanes roar overhead. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

This photo provided by Malak Meslmani shows her son, Jawad Younes, at a castle in Byblos town, north of Beirut, Lebanon, July 22, 2024. (Malak Meslamni via AP)<\/p>\n

This photo provided by Malak Meslmani shows her son, Jawad Younes, at a castle in Byblos town, north of Beirut, Lebanon, July 22, 2024. (Malak Meslamni via AP)<\/p>\n

Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n

Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember everything,\u201d she said. \u201cHow he used to eat and drink, how he used to play, how he would get dressed and fix his beautiful hair.\u201d <\/p>\n

Since he was killed, the planes no longer bother her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most precious thing, my heart, is gone,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat more can they do?\u201d<\/p>\n

___ <\/p>\n

Associated Press journalists Malak Harb in Beirut and Koral Saeed in Abu Snan, Israel, contributed to this report. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BEIRUT (AP) \u2014 Jawad Younes, 11, and his cousins were playing soccer in the lot between their houses,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393832,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[120,159991,187244,187245,122,187247,86,85,87,117780,46,1984,88,187246,47,2034,3896,43,121,126],"class_list":{"0":"post-393831","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-2024-2025-mideast-wars","9":"tag-2024-2026-mideast-wars","10":"tag-ali-shehab","11":"tag-charles-trumbull","12":"tag-general-news","13":"tag-hassan-al-jabali","14":"tag-hezbollah","15":"tag-il","16":"tag-iran","17":"tag-iran-war","18":"tag-israel","19":"tag-israel-government","20":"tag-lebanon","21":"tag-malak-meslmani","22":"tag-middle-east","23":"tag-mideast-wars","24":"tag-military-and-defense","25":"tag-news","26":"tag-war-and-unrest","27":"tag-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}