A six-year-old girl, Nargis Jaber, and her aunt were killed in an Israeli airstrike on March 2 in the village of Mayfadun in southern Lebanon. According to The Guardian, this incident was among the first child fatalities in Lebanon during Israel's military campaign, which began after Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on Israel. Since then, Israeli forces have killed 120 other children in the country, accounting for nearly 10% of total deaths.

Nargis's mother, Rana Jaber, cannot hold back tears as she recalls her daughter's final moments. She says that before the bombardment started, Nargis comforted her, saying, "Mom, you are my life. Don't cry, I love you so much." However, a few hours later, a bomb hit their home, resulting in Nargis's death, while Rana and her 10-year-old twin sons, Abbas and Ali, were trapped under rubble, surviving with minor injuries.

Rana Jaber describes Nargis as a mature and intelligent girl for her age, who dreamed of becoming a doctor. Her death has left the family in deep shock: Abbas still wants to buy chocolate for his sister when going to the store, and his mother must remind him that Nargis is gone. The boys' behavior has changed—they panic, tremble, and cry upon hearing loud noises.

Nargis's tragedy is not isolated: on March 14, an airstrike in Nabatiyeh killed all six members of the Basma family—mother, father, and four children. According to neighbor and close friend Hussein Yusuf, they were poor and lacked money to flee. This incident also deeply affected Yusuf's own children, who suddenly lost their classmates.

Experts warn that Lebanese children, having witnessed two wars in just three years, may face developmental issues and antisocial behavior due to exposure to violence. Dr. Rabih El Chammay, head of the National Mental Health Program at Lebanon's Ministry of Health, stated that children wake up in fear, parents live with unbearable anxiety, and this pain may echo for years even after bombs stop falling.

Rana Jaber plans to seek psychological treatment for her sons after the war ends, fearing long-term mental trauma from the bombardments. For now, she and her family must grapple alone with the immense burden of loss from Nargis's absence. Israeli attacks from March 2 to 26 resulted in 1,116 deaths and 3,229 injuries in Lebanon, representing thousands of lives altered or lost.

Source: www.gazeta.uz