Baalbek, Lebanon—The Jawhari family stands in disbelief around a large crater, the former site of their cherished home that was obliterated during an Israeli airstrike on November 1. Emotions surged as family members consoled each other, struggling to comprehend the extensive loss. “It is devastating. A heartache that we will never truly recover from,” Lina Jawhari expressed, her voice trembling. “In an instant, our entire world has been turned upside down.”
Once a hub of gathering for their family for generations, the house now lies in ruins, marking a haunting reminder of what was a lively and cherished life. Like many other Lebanese citizens, the Jawhari family returned to assess their properties following the U.S.-mediated ceasefire reached between Israel and Hezbollah on Wednesday.
The relentless Israeli airstrikes over the preceding two months have flattened entire neighborhoods across eastern and southern Lebanon, including predominantly Shiite areas in southern Beirut where Hezbollah’s influence is significant. This ongoing violence has led to the displacement of nearly 1.2 million people, leaving a deep scar of devastation throughout the country.
As the Jawhari family sifted through the debris, memories surfaced with each found fragment. A photograph of their previous home, captured by Lina’s nephew, Louay Mustafa, served to remind them of happier times. Moments of joy arose as they discovered a cherished letter, contrasted painfully by tears flowing when they uncovered a photograph of their deceased father, Reda Jawhari, who had constructed the home and was known for his remarkable metalwork artistry. The family held on tightly to a piece of mangled metal they recovered, a token of their father’s legacy that they refused to let vanish.
“Our lives were filled with love—music, dance, and dabke (traditional dance). Each corner of that house held these memories. Now, in an instant, it has all been taken away from us,” lamented Lina, overwhelmed by the abrupt change. Despite their resilience, the emotional scars from losing their home and its associated memories remain painfully fresh.
Rouba Jawhari, one of the four sisters, voiced her sorrow over missed opportunities, wishing they had saved more of their family photographs. “We regret not taking the pictures of my mother and father with us. We thought we would return in two weeks,” she said, holding onto an ID card and a small bag of photographs and letters that she managed to recover from the debris. “It never crossed our minds that this could happen.”
The airstrike that decimated their home arrived unexpectedly at 1:30 p.m. on what began as a routine Friday for the family. Their neighbor, Ali Wehbe, experienced a similar tragedy, losing his residence just moments after stepping out to buy food. When he returned, he found his brother frantically searching for him beneath the rubble. “Every brick carries a memory,” he stated as he pointed to what used to be his beloved library. “Under each book, you would find a story.”