Loss and Tragedy: Mahmoud's Tale in Nabatieh

Report by Lara Hachem, English adaptation by Nadine Sassine

 

I have never seen a child beloved by all his friends and teachers, like Mahmoud. 

This is how his caregiver sums him up, the child who fell victim to the brutality of the Israeli occupation. 

She tries to hold back her tears as she look at his chair, which holds every detail of him, and his wardrobe still carries the scent of his childhood fingers. 

It won't be easy for the school where Mahmoud has grown up for three years to welcome its student as a martyr, after filling its classrooms and playgrounds with his laughter. Mahmoud adorned his desk with certificates of excellence he couldn't receive, as crime rushed him.

The city of Nabatieh is in a state of shock. For 24 hours, families and neighbors searched through the rubble for a family that was completely lost. It was the family of Hussein Barjawi and his daughters, grandchildren, and sister.
Near the house that was leveled to the ground, you hear Hussein's lifelong friends telling you about the kind man.

The building, which targeting it reminds us of the assassination of Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in an apartment in the southern suburbs, was hit by two Israeli drones. The strike penetrated the second and first floors where the Barjawi family lived safely. The upper floors collapsed onto the lower one, causing several injuries and possibly casualties, while it remains uncertain if the lower floor was the primary target of the attack."