Boy, 11, Dies In Israeli Strike While Playing Football Near His Home

An 11-year-old boy and his uncle were killed in an Israeli air strike that hit their family home in southern Lebanon.

Jawad Younes and his uncle, 41-year-old Ragheb Younes, were buried on Saturday in the village of Saksakiyeh, a day after the strike destroyed their compound. The air strike hit the Younes family compound shortly after 13:00 local time on Friday.

Jawad had been playing football with his cousins when the attack happened, according to his father, Hussein Younes. Standing in front of the wreckage, he struggled to explain why the house had been hit. “I don't know! I don't know! If this was a military base, no kids would be here” he told BBC when asked about the target.

Family members and local officials told the BBC that the household had no military links to Hezbollah.

Jawad's mother, Malak Meslmani, sat beside her son's body.

“My son is gentle and pure. He loved the idea of martyrdom, and when he grew up, he wanted to be with the resistance. He wanted to resist the enemy Israel who killed him,” she told BBC.

Lebanese health officials say more than 1,100 people have been killed since the latest escalation began after US-Israeli operation against Iran, with civilians increasingly caught in the violence. The strike on the Younes family came just a day after another family in the same neighbourhood buried two children and their mother, also killed in Israeli bombardment.

On Saturday, three Lebanese journalists were killed when their vehicle was hit in an Israeli strike.

Ali Shoeib, a correspondent for Al Manar TV, died alongside reporter Fatima Ftouni and cameraman Mohamed Ftouni from Al Mayadeen, according to their employers. The Israeli military said it had targeted Shoeib, calling him a “terrorist” linked to Hezbollah's Radwan Force who had “operated for years under the guise of a journalist.” No evidence was provided for the claim.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun described the attack as a “brazen crime” and said it violated protections for journalists in conflict zones.

Since early March, Israeli air strikes have hit towns and villages across Lebanon, while ground operations continue in the south. Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah positions, but civilian casualties have continued to mount. The United Nations refugee agency has warned that the situation is deteriorating rapidly, with more than one million people displaced.

Despite the rising death count, both Israel and Hezbollah have signalled they will continue fighting.