Families in Lebanon still search rubble for loved ones killed in a day of Israeli strikes

[0:00] tomorrow marks four weeks since the day now known as black wednesday in lebanon on april 8th the [0:06] israeli military claiming to target hezbollah militants unleashed an unprecedented aerial [0:12] campaign killing more than 350 people in a matter of minutes special correspondent simona fultin [0:18] reports for days after israel struck this beirut neighborhood on april 8th ali abud kept coming [0:26] back to look for his sister zahra with the help of rescue workers he's making a final attempt [0:32] to find her underneath the rubble of what used to be his aunt's home they will start by moving [0:37] the rubble over there they will see if there's anything if there's a smell and they will leave [0:42] the removal of the rubble until the very end zahra was 26 years old the youngest of four siblings [0:48] she held a bachelor's in biochemistry and was pursuing her masters a young promising life wiped [0:55] out in the blink of an eye in what the israeli military called operation eternal darkness [1:01] it was april 8th the first day of the ceasefire between the us israel and iran just when many [1:07] lebanese thought the worst was over israel dropped more than a hundred bombs on lebanon in the span of [1:13] just 10 minutes the unprecedented attack hit densely populated neighborhoods during beirut's afternoon rush [1:21] hour and without warning aynal mreise on beirut's waterfront corniche once deemed safe was attacked for [1:28] the first time that day my dad called me that there was a strike on your aunt's house and your [1:34] sisters can't be found when we first started the search we pulled out 22 bodies every time a new [1:40] body was found i prayed it wasn't zahra because i still hoped that she was alive in one of the hospitals [1:45] but with every passing day the hope that zahra would be found alive has faded away all they can hope for [1:51] now is to find her body they go up to the first floor apartment to understand where zahra might have [1:58] been when israel struck it was lunchtime my aunt and the housekeeper were preparing food in the kitchen [2:04] and they retrieved them from the kitchen zahra was in her room that room is now a gaping hole ripped [2:10] away by the israeli missile as it tore through the six-story apartment building 18 families lived here [2:16] including ali's aunt zahra on the right and her sister malak on the left had come from southern [2:23] lebanon to stay with them when the war erupted in early march the girls were very scared they were [2:30] forced to go to their aunt's house here in aynal mreise an area that was considered safe and so who [2:34] was inside the apartment when the strike happened they were all there my two aunts my aunt's husband [2:41] my two sisters and the sri lankan maid of the six people in the apartment malak was the only one to [2:47] be pulled from the rubble alive ali's two aunts his uncle and zahra were killed the israeli military [2:55] said it was targeting hezbollah it's all lies this is not a hezbollah area this is a mixed area from [3:02] different sects and this is one of the oldest buildings there were 22 bodies all those pulled [3:08] from the rubble were women and children and my aunt's husband who was 82 years old he couldn't [3:12] even walk properly they were among at least 357 people killed on april 8th it was the deadliest day [3:20] of the war and became known as black wednesday nine days later when the ceasefire finally went into force [3:29] in lebanon funerals were held across the country in beirut southern suburbs people gathered to remember [3:35] ola alatar a 32 year old mother of two relatives and friends try to console ola's mother as she cries [3:42] out for her daughter her two sisters are still in disbelief she didn't come home i was asking where [3:50] was the strike where was the strike my mom said it was the place where ola worked she said your sister [3:56] is gone what do you mean my sister is gone where was she she went to work she works at a dentist ola [4:04] wasn't the first in her family not to come home her husband hamad alatar worked at the beirut port [4:11] and was killed in a devastating explosion in 2020 that explosion caused by the improper storage of [4:17] ammonium nitrate fertilizer in the port silos killed 218 people ola joined other victims families in a push [4:24] for accountability but death came faster than justice she was killed six years after her husband [4:31] leaving behind two daughters zahra aged 12 and fatima seven their paternal grandmother and their [4:38] aunt have stepped in to try to replace the irreplaceable their mother was everything for the girls [4:46] can someone replace a mother ola carried a heavy burden children are a responsibility you have to bring [4:52] them to schools to doctors it was difficult to lose hamad but ola closed the gap at my age i can't do what [4:59] ola was doing the loss of both parents has forced zahra into a job no 12 year old should have [5:09] my sister and i we've become orphans but of course i will go support my sister i will go to school and [5:15] i will study i will raise my head so that my mother and my father can be proud of me zahra is still in [5:20] therapy to overcome her father's death and must now reckon with having found her mother's body on top of [5:27] that there's the persistent fear of more israeli strikes if i hear a civilian plane i'm scared i [5:34] feel that a rocket will fall on me fatima no longer likes being at home she spends most of her time [5:40] downstairs with her aunt nancy she holds on to me at night the way she used to sleep with her mother [5:45] hugging her because she was afraid to lose her zahra visits the place where her mother was killed every [5:51] day to look for her mobile phone she says or perhaps for answers that might never come the israeli [5:58] military claimed to have killed 250 hezbollah operatives on april 8th for the idea of claims to [6:04] be true all the male victims would have to be fighters but in reality many were ordinary civilians [6:11] like jamil jarab he was 26 a refugee from syria and an aspiring chef at a well-known asian restaurant in [6:18] beirut while lascani is the restaurant's owner he was very uh sweet very much the strong and silent [6:27] type like you couldn't get a word out of him even when i wanted to like you're just kind of holding [6:32] it together but extremely kind jamil had recently married and had a four month old daughter he was [6:39] working his way up and had just been promoted to prep cook it's kind of tough to accept that a child [6:46] like really just a kid who came here to to have a better life escape war and build a safe and happy [6:55] life for himself ends up being massacred in broad daylight you don't hit 20 sites at 2 30 when schools [7:03] get up when everybody's out for lunch uh targeting hezbollah you actually you're here you're aiming for [7:11] civilians jamil's absence is dearly felt in this tightly knit community yasser al-omar is the head [7:18] chef and just like jamal from aleppo syria he was light-hearted he never annoyed anyone he worked with [7:26] sincerity we feel a bit depressed when we come here we still imagine him here 11 days after zahra was [7:34] killed some of her remains were finally found and identified through dna analysis we joined the [7:41] family as they visited the cemetery in her village her final resting place we got upset and relieved [7:48] at the same time we got assurances that it was indeed zahra that she was martyred we were relieved [7:54] that we found something of her to bury thank god we could honor her burying the dead is the only form [8:00] of closure they can get there is little hope for accountability if there was justice through [8:07] international law we wouldn't have gotten to this point i lost my sister the only justice lies with [8:13] god other than that there's no justice but these families will never forget black wednesday will be [8:19] remembered here as one of the darkest days in a history littered with massacres the trauma forever [8:26] etched into collective memory for the pbs news hour i'm simona fultin in lebanon support journalism you [8:45] trust support pbs news donate now or even better start a monthly contribution today