Maaysrah
To the left: Fatima Jihad Zreik (33).mounrs at the grave of her dead daughter Hawraa(2)killed in the attack. To the right: Hoessein (9)with visible physical injuries on his body and face after the attack Maaysra Lebanon
Why was the Lebanese mountain village of Maaysrah bombed? 'There are no fighters here'
On September 25, the mountain village of Maaysrah, located about 80 kilometers from the Israeli border and far from the usual front lines in southern Lebanon, was struck by an Israeli airstrike. The attack killed sixteen civilians, including fourteen women and children. No Hezbollah fighters were reported among the dead.
Maaysrah is a small, close-knit village where most residents belong to the same extended family. Until the bombing, the community had largely been spared from the war. There was no evacuation warning, and the strike came without notice, hitting residential buildings while children were playing outside.
Israeli authorities said the village was targeted as part of a wider campaign against Hezbollah infrastructure, claiming the presence of a command center or intelligence facilities. Residents acknowledge political support for Hezbollah but firmly deny that there were fighters or weapons in the bombed buildings. A former Hezbollah member who once lived in one of them had died months earlier, while the house of a senior Hezbollah official in the village was left untouched.
Among the victims was Fatima, a displaced mother who had fled the south of Lebanon seeking safety with relatives in Maaysrah. She lost her three-year-old daughter and her sister-in-law in the strike. Standing beside the freshly dug graves behind the village mosque, Fatima rejected claims that her home had been used for military purposes. “We are civilians,” she said. “The only weapons we have are the knives we use to cut our onions.”
The bombing of Maaysrah is part of a broader Israeli air campaign across Lebanon that has increasingly affected civilian areas, medical workers, and displaced families. Monitoring organizations have described the scale of the bombardment as among the most intense Lebanon has seen in decades.
Rather than weakening local support for Hezbollah, the attack appears to have deepened communal solidarity. In this mixed region, Christian and Muslim residents alike reject attempts to divide them along sectarian lines, emphasizing shared lives, shared losses, and a shared sense of injustice.
For the families of Maaysrah, the strike is not experienced as a strategic military action, but as a deeply personal tragedy—one that shows how the war has expanded far beyond the front lines, reaching places once believed to be safe.
Writer : Jenne Jan Holtland
Photo: Bruno Thevenin
Sign at the entrance road of the town of Maaysra, where the Israeli forces bombed a house sheltering displaced people from the south Lebanon Maaysra Lebanon
A sign where you see the image of Sayeed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah, and you can see written ‘All loyalty to the master of the resistance’. Maaysra Lebanon
A woman shows with her phone two victims of the attack, the girl on the right died and the boy is in a coma in hospital. Maaysra Lebanon
A banner with the text ‘made in usa’ can be seen in front of the rubble of the attacked house in reference to the US aid in armament to the Israeli forces. Maaysra Lebanon
In the center: A cat is seen loitering around the rubble of the destroyed house Maaysra Lebanon
Hoessein (9)with visible physical injuries on his body and face after the attack playing with a candle Maaysra Lebanon
A picture of one of the child victims of the Israeli attack next to a chocolate bar at the place where she was buried. Maaysra Lebanon
A banner with the image of Sayeed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah, recently killed in an attack by Israeli forces, in front of the remains of the bombed house. Maaysra Lebanon
To the left of the room filled with debris from the attack, an open fridge with food inside can be seen. Maaysra Lebanon
A shoe can be seen in the remains of the rubble of the attack carried out by the Israeli army in the town of Maaysran. Maaysra Lebanon
Remains of broken glass on the kitchen floor of a house adjacent to the building affected by the attack. Maaysra Lebanon
To the right: Mohammad Fayad, a local Hezbollah official, next to the destroyed house Maaysra Lebanon
Views of the hands of Fatima Jihad Zreik (33) holding a flower Maaysra Lebanon
On the right, a resident of Maaysra laments at the sight of the car completely destroyed by the attack. Maaysra Lebanon
Isabelle Aoun,60, christian woman living close to Maysraan village, in her growcery shop Maaysra Lebanon
A television showing the latest news on the situation in the south border of Lebanon Maaysra Lebanon
Views of the coast of Lebanon from the road to Maaysra Maaysra Lebanon