- Title: A Tyre resident says he refuses to leave after Israeli strike destroys his home
- Date: 5th April 2026
- Summary: TYRE, LEBANON (APRIL 5, 2026) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RUBBLE AND DAMAGED BUILDINGS AFTER ISRAELI STRIKE ON APRIL 3 VARIOUS OF LEBANESE RESIDENT JAMAL SALIM FARRAN, WALKING PAST RUBBLE DESTROYED CAR AND REMAINS RUBBLE AND REMAINS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LEBANESE RESIDENT IN TYRE, JAMAL SALIM FARRAN, SAYING: “Suddenly, suddenly, without any warning at all, we’re asleep peacefully
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: AFTERMATH CRISIS IRAN ISRAEL LEBANON STRIKE TYRE
- Location: TYRE, LEBANON
- City: TYRE, LEBANON
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East
- Reuters ID: LVA001003505042026RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: An Israeli airstrike on Friday (April 3) left the Tyre neighbourhood where Jamal Salim Farran lives in ruins.
Walking through the rubble on Sunday (April 5) he describes what happened when his two apartments were hit.
“Suddenly, suddenly, without any warning at all, we’re asleep peacefully and all of a sudden a missile was launched. It destroyed families, homes were ruined, there were children, there were families, these are residential houses,” Farran said.
Israel has been waging a campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon after the group fired at Israel in support of Iran following an attack by Israel and the United States on February 28.
Israeli airstrikes and ground operations over the last month have largely cut off southern Lebanon from the rest of the country, depopulating dozens of towns and damaging key public services that are a lifeline for the residents that remain.
Last week, Israel said it would seize southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, which ends just north of Tyre, to create a “buffer zone” against Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, which pulled Lebanon into the regional war by firing on Israel on March 2 in solidarity with its patron Iran.
The announcement has triggered deep fears of a prolonged Israeli occupation of the south, which was occupied by the Israeli military for more than two decades until the year 2000.
Israel says it is targeting facilities used by Hezbollah, accusing the Iran-backed group of putting civilians at risk by installing military hardware in populated areas. It says it takes precautions by warning civilians to leave the area ahead of time. Hezbollah has denied using public infrastructure as military installations.
As the war enters its second month, a sense of despair has settled over some Lebanese who fled their southern hometowns.
Farran, who says Friday's attack was on a residential neighbourhood, is now homeless, and says he won't let Israel force him out.
"I will not leave—this is our land, and we will not give it up,” Farran says defiantly.
(Production: Jihed Abidellaoui, Yazan Kalach) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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