AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): In the occupied border villages of southern Lebanon, the dead have not been spared the aggressions of the Israeli regime either. Cemeteries that housed multiple generations of the residents of these villages have been targeted by bombardment, explosions, and leveling operations. Some of them have been completely erased, and a number of graves have lost their markers, in a way that access to them has become impossible.
According to a report by Lebanon's Al-Akhbar newspaper, with the continuation of the occupation and attacks against 60 southern Lebanese villages, residents can no longer bury their dead in their hometowns. As a result, they have been forced to bury the bodies of the deceased on a temporary basis in cemeteries outside their villages, hoping that whenever conditions allow, they can transfer them to their hometowns or open the old graves belonging to their families and bury the new dead alongside their relatives.
Mays al-Jabal; about 20,000 graves at risk of destruction
In the occupied border town of Mays al-Jabal, there are 10 cemeteries that the residents of this town cannot access. According to Abdul Munim Shaqir, the former mayor of Mays al-Jabal, these cemeteries together hold about 20,000 graves, most of which have been subjected to leveling and bombardment or directly damaged as a result of the Israeli regime's aggressions.
Given the impossibility of accessing the town of Mays al-Jabal and conducting a field assessment of the damage, no precise statistics on the number of destroyed or damaged graves are available so far.
However, the consequences of this destruction are not limited to old graves and have also affected the fate of the new dead. Shaqir estimates the number of martyrs and those who died of natural causes and were buried outside the town of Mays al-Jabal after the March attack at about 150 people. These individuals have been buried on a temporary basis in the cities of Beirut and Sidon and other areas of southern Lebanon.
Bint Jbeil; temporary burial of 40 people outside the town
The situation in the town of Mays al-Jabal is not unique to this town, and temporary burial of the dead outside their hometown has also spread to other border towns of southern Lebanon.
In the town of Bint Jbeil, the number of residents who have been temporarily buried outside this town has reached about 40 people, 16 of whom are martyrs. These individuals have been buried in various areas in accordance with the residence of their families. Most of them have been buried in the "Rawdat Imam Sadiq (a.s.)" cemetery in the "Al-Ajniha Al-Khamsa" area located in the "Hay al-Salam" neighborhood.
Hashem al-Sayed Hassan, a member of the Bint Jbeil municipal council, says that airstrikes and explosions around four adjacent cemeteries located in one geographical area have destroyed dozens of graves. A matter that satellite images also show.
However, the exact extent of the damage caused by the leveling operations on the outskirts of these cemeteries has not yet been determined.
Yaroun; complete destruction of a cemetery and demolition of Christian graves
In the town of Yaroun, the extent of destruction has gone beyond minor damage and reached the complete erasure of a cemetery.
Hafez Ghasham, the mayor of Yaroun, says that this town has five cemeteries, including four Islamic cemeteries and one Christian cemetery.
According to him, one of these cemeteries was completely destroyed during the 60-day deadline set for the withdrawal of the Israeli regime's army after the 2024 war. This cemetery had about 200 graves, some of which date back more than 200 years.
The western cemetery of the town of Yaroun, which is the oldest cemetery of this town with a history of more than 300 years, has also been severely damaged by artillery shelling and drone attacks by the Israeli regime's army. The eastern cemetery of the town of Yaroun in the "Al-Bayadir" area and the current cemetery of this town have also faced varying degrees of damage. The current cemetery of the town of Yaroun has about 300 graves, including the graves of the martyrs of this town.
Exhumation of graves and destruction of the Christians' cemetery
The Christians' cemetery of the town of Yaroun, despite not being directly targeted by bombardment, was not spared from assault.
According to Ghasham, during the 2026 war, Zionist occupation soldiers entered this cemetery, exhumed the graves, destroyed the tombs, and broke their doors.
Thus, the damage inflicted on the cemeteries of the town of Yaroun was not limited to shell impacts and explosions but also extended to the manipulation of graves and the desecration of the dead.
In circumstances where returning to the town of Yaroun is still impossible, the number of people from this town who have been buried on a temporary basis outside Yaroun has reached 15. They have been buried in the cities of Tyre, Beirut, and Choueifat.
Ghasham explains that the Yaroun municipal council and the endowment committee face difficulties in providing burial space, especially since many of the town's residents living outside Lebanon have stipulated in their wills that they be buried in their hometown after death, but security conditions have prevented the execution of their wills.
Beit Yahoun; destruction of 60 percent of graves and annihilation of burial facilities
In the town of Beit Yahoun, the damage is not limited to damaged graves and also includes facilities related to burying the dead.
Mustafa Makki, the mayor of Beit Yahoun, says that the municipality entered Beit Yahoun in March 2026, accompanied by the army and Lebanese civil defense forces. At that time, the extent of destruction in this town was about 75 percent.
Upon reaching the cemetery, it became clear that an airstrike had created a deep crater at its entrance and destroyed the prayer hall, the place for washing the dead, and the ambulance vehicles affiliated with the cemetery.
The tombstones were also broken. A matter that, due to the loss of grave markers, has made it difficult to identify the burial places of individuals.
Makki estimates that about 60 percent of the graves have been partially or completely damaged. Now that the extent of destruction in the town of Beit Yahoun has reached about 96 percent and the occupation, bombardment, explosions, and leveling operations continue, access to the cemetery has also become impossible.
As a result, the number of residents of the town of Beit Yahoun who have been buried on a temporary basis outside this town has reached eight. They have been buried in the city of Beirut and areas near the residence of their families.
Christian families are also deprived of burying their dead in their hometown
The burial crisis is not limited to Muslims living in the border villages of southern Lebanon. Christian families are also forced to temporarily bury their dead in other cemeteries until their land is liberated and they can transfer the bodies of their loved ones to the cemeteries of their villages.
Rola Salloum, a Christian resident of the town of Yaroun, lost her father and mother during the Israeli regime's aggressions in 2026. She could not bury their bodies in their hometown as they had stipulated in their wills and was forced to bury them on a temporary basis in the "Damour" area.
She says that being unable to bury her father and mother in the soil of their hometown has been a very painful experience. However, providing a place to bury them has somewhat eased the weight of this loss. She still hopes to be able to transfer her parents' bodies to the town of Yaroun in the future.
While Salloum could not execute her parents' will, the Christians' cemetery of the town of Yaroun had also not been spared from the assault and destruction of the occupation soldiers. An assault that violated the sanctity of the dead without distinguishing between them.
Proposal to establish a public cemetery in the Tyre area
With the destruction of 64 villages in southern Lebanon and the impossibility of returning to them in the near future, temporary burial of the dead outside their hometown has turned from a temporary measure into a crisis that may escalate. Especially with the increase in the number of people buried in other cities and the limited capacity of the cemeteries that receive them.
In this regard, Riad al-Asaad, a Lebanese engineer, proposes establishing a national public cemetery in the Tyre area that would receive residents belonging to different sects and provide the possibility of temporary or permanent burial.
He asks the Lebanese government to allocate land from state property or what is called "mushaa" in this country for this purpose and to take on the responsibility of organizing and managing it.
Al-Asaad, in an interview with Al-Akhbar newspaper, says, "Temporary burial is acceptable, but as long as the crisis is prolonged, it is not a solution."
He warns that the capacity of current burial places may soon be filled, while the time of return to the destroyed villages of southern Lebanon remains unclear.
This proposal is not limited to providing space for burial but also aims to prevent a crisis that escalates with the passage of time and to reduce the burden of waiting and commuting for families. Families who should not, after the death of their loved ones, face the consequences of war alone.
Al-Asaad summarizes this situation with a bitter sentence. A sentence that depicts the residents' inability to bury their dead in a place that they and their loved ones had chosen: "We accepted death, but death did not reconcile with us."
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