BEIRUT (AP) - Jawad, 11, was playing soccer with Younes and his cousins ​​around their house as usual. Jawad's younger brother, Mehdi, 4, was tired of playing with them. So Jawad took him home and handed him over to his mother. Then he went back to playing.

Minutes later, an Israeli strike hit Jawad's uncle's house. The explosion shook neighboring houses, knocking Jawad's siblings to the ground. Their mother, Malak Meslamani, rushed to pick them up.

"I was pulling my children from the floor, but as I ran to pick them up, I shouted, 'Jawad,'" she said. "My heart went out to him in this tragedy."

Jawad and one of his cousins, who was playing soccer with him, were killed in the Israeli strike in Saksakih on March 27. One of his uncles was also killed. The two were cousins. Several children were injured in the attack. Jawad's uncle was an interior designer. Jawad dreamed of becoming like his uncle.  Like many Shiite families in southern Lebanon, Jawad's family is  a staunch supporter of Hezbollah. Hezbollah was born in the 1980s in response to Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon. As such, many in the region consider Hezbollah a nationalist organization. 

Jawad and his siblings are among 168 children killed in Israeli airstrikes in a new six-week war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah. More than 2,100 people have been killed in the attacks so far. Israel has launched attacks on Hezbollah bases  without warning.

It has defended the attacks by claiming that Hezbollah fighters are hiding in civilian homes. The families of the children killed are accusing Israel of war crimes. 

According to Israeli figures, at least two Israeli civilians (both adults) and 13 soldiers have been killed in the current war with Hezbollah. One Israeli civilian has also been killed by Israeli fire. 

Women, children and civilians have been killed in large numbers in Lebanon. But Israel claims that the targets are Hezbollah. Under international law governing armed conflict, civilians cannot be directly targeted. However, some damage is considered natural when attacking opposing forces. However, that damage must be less than the damage inflicted on the opposing side. This is called “collateral damage.” 

The Israeli military said in a statement to the AP that it was following international law. It claimed that the “principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution” were applied in the war. 

But Charles Trumbull, an associate professor of law at the University of South Carolina, says the attack, whether it was legal or not, is not morally justifiable.

“What was the target and did the military know there were children there? Until that is revealed, we cannot say whether it is legal or illegal,” he told the AP. “When you know that children are being injured or killed in an attack, you have to think twice before attacking. Just because an attack doesn’t happen doesn’t mean it wasn’t wrong or not a problem. Or, you can’t morally defend it.”

Children buried under house

At 2 a.m. on March 12, Talin Shehab was sleeping. A missile hit the top floor of her apartment in Aramoun, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Beirut, causing the apartment to collapse. Talin and her father were killed. Her mother was seriously injured. Talin would have turned 4 at the end of March. 

Talin’s father, Mohammed, was a drone operator and video producer who often worked for the Lebanese army and television. He also ran a fashion company with his wife, Nathalie. 

‘They were a very close family. Their daily lives revolved around their daughter,’ said Mohammed’s brother, Ali Shehab. ‘Talin was very close to her father. Maybe because Mohammed and Talin were so close, I think God chose them both.’ 

Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta says many children, like Talin, have been buried under the rubble of their own homes. He has been working at the Beirut Medical Center to treat some of the children injured in the war. 

Ten-year-old Zainab al-Jabali went with her father wherever he went.  She would walk around the hills around her village in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, a corner shop. Now, her father is waiting in a Beirut hospital ward for his sick mother and three other daughters. Zainab was killed in the attack. 

Hassan al-Jabali’s life has been shadowed by war for much of his life. In 1982, his 10-year-old brother was killed by an Israeli missile. Al-Jabali made a living selling preserved foods such as mauneh, or raisins, and dried herbs. He worked in his uncle’s factory that produced laban, or yogurt.

On March 5, al-Jabali’s wife and daughters were at her sister’s house when the airstrike hit. They were preparing iftar, the meal that breaks the daily fast of the holy month of Ramadan. 

Al-Jabali admitted that his half-brother was a member of Hezbollah. He was killed in the attack. “But they attacked him in his own house. There were children and women in the house,” he said. He has yet to tell his wife about Zainab's death. Jabali fears that the pain could get him into trouble. "I heard the explosions from other parts of the village. I was rushing to see my family when I saw the scenes of carnage," he said of the tragedy.