Lebanon continues to be subjected to bombardment by Israeli missiles that have resulted in innocent civilians killed and city infrastructure destroyed. Beirut, the capital, has been heavily hit with an onslaught of airstrikes since Israel began targeting Lebanon amid its war with Hezbollah. 

As infrastructure is destroyed and residential buildings are decimated, thousands of people have been left in the streets and forced to flee, according to reports. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that this is the “worst displacement crisis” in Lebanon’s history due to the Israeli strikes. 

An American citizen from Dearborn, Michigan, Kamel Ahmad Jawad, was killed by an Israeli strike while he was helping people in his home village of Nabatieh, located in the south of Lebanon, according to his family. The village has been subjected to a barrage of Israeli missiles and Jawad, a father of four who was stuck in Lebanon, spent his time volunteering near the village’s main hospital to help anyone he could. His daughter, Nadine Jawad, shared a statement on social media honoring her father’s generosity, highlighting that even in his final moments, he emphasized the need to help the oppressed and the poor.  

Haj Kamel Ahmad Jawad pictured. Photo courtesy of Jawad family

Part of Nadine Jawad’s statement reads: 

“In his last days, he chose to stay near the main hospital in Nabatieh to help the elderly, disabled, injured and those who simply couldn’t financially afford to flee. He served as their guardian, provided them with food, mattresses and other comforts, and anonymously paid of their debts.

“My father never viewed himself as a savior. His response to political conflict was always simple: ‘I stand with the oppressed.’ He wasn’t alone in this fight. Many others just like him risk their lives every day to alleviate the mass suffering caused by Israel’s genocide in Gaza that now spreads through Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Lebanon. My father’s actions are part of a much larger movement of people who refuse to stay silent in the face of oppression.

“His life is one of 50,000 lost at the hands of Israeli aggression across the Middle East. The fact that he was an American citizen should not make his story more important than others. As Muslims, we believe that every life matters. If my dad’s story stands out to you, every other civilian murdered by the Israeli regime should as well.

“In his last moments, my father was calm. He emphasized our collective responsibility to help the oppressed. Even as he witnessed destruction from the missiles falling around him, his certainty in the importance of caring for community — in any and every capacity possible — remained at the forefront.”

A funeral service will be held at the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn on October 6.

Jawad was one of the many American citizens stuck in Lebanon. U.S Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) shared her frustration with the United States Department of State in an Instagram video addressing the department’s lack of urgency evacuating American citizens out of Lebanon.

“As a congresswoman to a beautiful diverse district, I shouldn’t have to beg our own government to help its own citizens. We are abandoning American citizens,” Tlaib said. “We should be saving lives no matter faith or ethnicity. We should have used our leverage to demand a ceasefire. We have already lost one American who was the father of four. How many more have to die before our country stops sending more U.S. bombs and funding this madness?”

Another American citizen who identified herself by her nickname, “Karam”,  spoke with Al Jazeera, stating that she feels her life does not matter to the United States government. 

She said she contacted the U.S. Embassy in Beirut for help evacuate from the bombardment, but was told to find a way out on her own. 

Karam told Al Jazeera that American citizens in Israel were quickly evacuated following the Hamas attack on October 7 last year, drawing attention to the lack of urgency for Americans stuck in Lebanon. 

“Americans of Lebanese descent have been treated as lesser U.S. citizens than Israeli U.S. citizens,” she told Al Jazeera. “It is as if we don’t exist.”

The first flight evacuating U.S. citizens out of Lebanon and into Istanbul has been garnered, according to an announcement by the Biden administration on Wednesday. 

Matthew Miller, the State Department said 100 U.S. citizen were able to board the flight. However, nearly 6,000 Americans have reached out to the U.S. Embassy in Beirut for assistance to leave. 

The death toll continues to rise in Lebanon following the Israeli airstrikes. The World Health Organization Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reported the killing of those 28 health-care workers and nine other people according to the Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

Warnings of evacuation were issued to Lebanese villages in the south signaling Israel’s invasion into Lebanon would increase. 

Further bombardment

Reports state that Israel fired white phosphorus munitions over southern Lebanon earlier this week. The Middle East Eye shared a video of the apparent white phosphorus dropping near the Israeli-Lebanese border.

Under international law, the use of white phosphorus in heavily populated civilian areas is forbidden as it can cause immense harm, including severe burns and damage to the respiratory tract. It can induce asphyxiation when fumes are inhaled. White phosphorus ignites when coming into contact with oxygen.

In Beirut’s southern suburbs, buildings have been reduced to rubble after being hit by Israeli strikes. The Dahiyeh of Beirut continues to be hit with strikes.

Al Jazeera reported a Lebanese man who won’t leave despite the unfolding turmoil. Mohammed Sheaito told Al Jazeera, “during the night, the ground shook below us… and the sky lit up” when recalling the bombs.

The southern suburbs of Beirut are where Hezbollah’s main institutions are located. The head of Hezbollah’s information office, Mohammed Afif, told journalists that the buildings hit are “civilian buildings and are not home to military activity.”

As the bombings continue, thousands are forced to flee their homes and stay with other family members, rented flats or schools that have turned into shelters, according to reports. Many have been photographed sleeping on the streets with nowhere to go.

Families that fled Beirut’s southern suburbs are pictured sitting on the streets in Martyrs’ square on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. Photo: AP Photo/Bilal Hussein

According to The Financial Times, 3,100 buildings in Lebanon have been damaged, at least 1,336 people have been killed, and more than 1 million people have been displaced.

The director of Airwars, a monitoring group that tracks civilian harm claims, Emily Tripp, said “there’s a level of intensity in the strike level and the number of munitions being employed which is certainly only comparable to Gaza,” in a Financial Times report.