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BINT JBEIL: A village in southern Lebanon on Tuesday buried five people, including three children and their father, killed in an Israeli strike over the weekend.
Shadi Charara, a car dealer, was killed while driving home to the southern seaside city of Tyre on Sunday with his wife and four children after having lunch at his father-in-law’s house in the town of Bint Jbeil, a few kilometers from the border with Israel.
Sam Bazzi, the children’s maternal grandfather, told The Associated Press the family thought they were safe because they had no affiliation with Hezbollah.
“We’re regular citizens and we don’t belong to any group,” Bazzi said. “And so we thought we had nothing to do with it and we were just living normally, coming and going.”
The family was only a few hundred meters from Bazzi’s house when a motorcycle passed by, and at the same moment, the Israeli drone struck.
It killed Charara, his twin 18-month-old son and daughter Hadi and Silan, 8-year-old daughter Celine, and the motorcyclist, a local man named Mohammed Majed Mroue. Family members said Mroue was Charara’s cousin but had been passing by chance at the time of the strike, not traveling with the family.
The children’s mother, Amani Bazzi, and her oldest daughter, Asil, survived but were seriously wounded. Bazzi, her face bruised and swollen, was carried on a stretcher through the crowd at the funeral of her husband and children.
After Sunday’s strike, the Israeli military said it was targeting a Hezbollah militant, whom it did not name, and that he “operated from within a civilian population.” It acknowledged that civilians were killed and said that it was reviewing the incident.
At the funeral in Bint Jbeil, the coffins were draped in Lebanese flags, and only Lebanese flags were waving in the crowd. At other funerals in southern Lebanon, Hezbollah banners are often on display.
A US-brokered ceasefire halted the latest Israel-Hezbollah war in November. That conflict began on Oct. 8, 2023, when Hezbollah began firing rockets across the border, one day after a deadly Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel sparked the war in Gaza
Israel responded with shelling and airstrikes in Lebanon, and the two sides became locked in an escalating conflict that became a full-blown war in September 2024.
Since the ceasefire took effect, Israel has continued to launch near-daily airstrikes in southern Lebanon. Israeli officials frequently say it is targeting Hezbollah militants or infrastructure. Hezbollah has only claimed firing across the border once since the ceasefire, but Israel says the militant group is trying to rebuild its capabilities.
Charara’s sister, Amina, who lives in Dearborn, Michigan, said houses belonging to the family were damaged or destroyed in last year’s war, but they had counted themselves lucky that none of their relatives had been harmed.
“We always said thank God we only lost stones and not human beings,” she said. ““The houses and stones can be rebuilt, but how can my brother return?”
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said after the strike that Shadi Charara and his children were US citizens, while family members told the AP that Charara did not have US citizenship but that his siblings and father live in the United States and are citizens. They said Charara had applied to join them and recently received approval but was still waiting for visas.
A US State Department official declined to comment on “personal details.”
The European Union on Sunday condemned the strike and called for “full respect and implementation of the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel.”
“Security concerns should be addressed by making full use of the monitoring mechanism established in the framework of the ceasefire agreement,” it said.
Amina Charara said the family in the US had been constantly worried about their relatives in Lebanon.
“My brother was a man who loved life and loved his family. He had nothing to do with politics. He was working to provide for his family,” she said. “What was the fault of the children for Israel to kill them?“

NEW YORK: Palestine is proof of the world’s “selectiveness” when it comes to human rights, justice and international law, Iraq’s president told the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.

Abdul Latif Rashid outlined his nation’s efforts to respect the rights of all citizens and to be a “good neighbor” in the region, but paid particular attention to Palestinian suffering.

“The Palestinian civilians are beset by killing, starvation, displacement, and the destruction of infrastructure and state institutions. This is inhumane. It’s a disgrace for humanity. Therefore, this must end,” he said, demanding that the UN apply the rule of law to end the suffering.

Rashid denounced Israel’s attacks against Qatar, Yemen, Iran, Syria, Palestine and Lebanon. “We reiterate our call for the international community to take urgent measures to ensure a just and comprehensive settlement to the Palestinian cause through the implementation of UN resolutions,” he said.

“This, and the establishment of an independent State of Palestine, is the only pathway to stability and security in the Middle East and the entire world.

“Decisive measures must be taken against the policy of settlement and annexation of land espoused by the occupying power against Palestinians to destroy their hope in a liveable state. We welcome the wide-scale international recognition of the State of Palestine.”

Rashid said more must be done to defeat terrorism across the board, citing Iraq as an example of a nation that “triumphed over the threat of terrorism” and is moving forward to empower its 46 million citizens.

“We rely on the unity of our people and the establishment of development plans to heal the wounds of the past and pave the way for a promising future, which relies on the steadfast national will of our people and the international community’s support,” he said.

“Terrorism is but one scourge, even if it takes on various slogans and manifestations. It therefore should be countered comprehensively without any distinction as to its forms.”

He added: “We underline the need to hold accountable those who support terrorism through funds, weapons, safe havens or media outlets, and those who allow the transfer of terrorists.”

Rashid described Iraq “as a beacon of hope” for the rest of the world, citing “the great sacrifices our people have conceded with great resolve to ensure coexistence and respect for pluralism, contrary to the repressive regime (of Saddam Hussein) that formally ruled Iraq.

“And as the guarantor of the constitution, I’m cooperating with the judiciary as the safety valve of the democratic system to hold free, fair and transparent elections to ensure neutrality and equal opportunities to candidacy and parliamentary representation.”

He emphasized the work that continues to strengthen its relations with other Arab nations, including Kuwait, which Saddam invaded in 1990.

“We’re not calling for sympathy but rather partnership, a partnership to heal our land, to secure our rivers, to safeguard our security, to empower our youth, and to ensure the unity of our region instead of its division,” Rashid said.

“The Middle East has witnessed enough war, tears, bloodshed and grief. Many opportunities for peace and dignified life have been lost. It’s high time to end this urgently and to forge a new path for peace, justice and cooperation.”

He continued to applause: “Iraq is willing to walk that path and to support those who will join it. The peoples of the world, namely the Middle East, look to the UN as the last remaining pathway for peace and they wonder, will it act or will it look the other way?

“Will we live in a world where international law, human rights and justice prevail? Or will we slip back into the law of the jungle, a disgrace to humanity, one that stokes the inferno of hatred, cruelty and chaos?”