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Lebanese Muslim cleric performs the funeral pray over the bodies of three Kurdish children killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon on July 17, 2024. Photo: AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Three Kurdish children from Syria were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon on Tuesday.
Lebanese state media said three Syrian children were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Umm al-Tut village in southern Lebanon near the Israeli border.
Rudaw has learned that these three children were Kurds from Afrin in northern Syria. The family had fled the Syrian civil war and resided in Lebanon.
Mustafa Shekho is a Kurdish activist in Lebanon. He told Rudaw on Wednesday that the three children’s bodies were buried in Qasimia town in Lebanon.
"Like everyday... the children were spending their day playing,” Shaheen Jarkas, father of two killed children, said during the funeral of his children. The 55-year-old man is a farmer, according to AFP.
He added that when he heard the sound of the strike, he ran towards it.
His sons, Jan and Muhammed, were aged nine and six respectively. Their 11-year-old cousin Khalil was also killed in the strike, reported The National.
Israel has not confirmed its involvement in the attack but said on Tuesday that it hit a Hezbollah cell near the village.
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) said the killing of the three children was “horrific,” adding that children must be protected.
“Our thoughts with their families. More children are at risk as long as the violence continues,” it added.
Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Syria have increased since October 7, when Palestinian Hamas militants launched an unprecedented, large-scale attack on Israeli territory that prompted significant and ongoing retaliation.
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