Israel Drops GBU-39 Bombs On Ain Saadeh, Killing Pierre Moawad And Two Women

On April 5, Israel dropped two US-made GBU-39 bombs on a four-story building in Ain Saadeh, a predominantly Christian town in Mount Lebanon about ten kilometers east of Beirut, in a social housing complex built by the Maronite Church for low-income families.

“The Palestine Media Agency offers a translation of this analysis by Elia Ayoub, a researcher and writer, founder of the podcast The Fire These Times and cofounder of the media collective From the Periphery”

Agence Media Palestine

The Palestine Media Agency translation of Elia Ayoub’s analysis says the strike killed Pierre Moawad, head of a regional office of the Lebanese Forces, and two other women, while Lebanese sources quickly confirmed the targeted apartment was empty.

Agence Media Palestine

The same analysis says the Israeli army stated it had targeted a Hezbollah member and regretted the damage caused to civilians, and it adds that the Lebanese Forces did not blame Israel for being behind the strike even while acknowledging that Israel was responsible.

It also quotes the Lebanese Forces’ framing of the deaths as "victims of the devastating war in which the 'party of Iran' has once again dragged the country" and describes the rhetoric as presenting Hezbollah as an armed arm of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

In the analysis, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is cited saying the Shiites would not be allowed to return once Israel had completed its occupation of South Lebanon, where other military officials warned Christian and Druze citizens not to host their Shiite neighbors.

The Palestine Media Agency analysis places the Ain Saadeh strike in a wider sequence that includes April 14 talks in Washington between Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors, Nada Hamadeh and Yechiel Leiter, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

It says the official objective was to extend the ceasefire while working toward the long-term disarmament of Hezbollah and toward a peace agreement between the two countries, and it adds that during the two hours the meeting lasted Israel bombed at least 23 towns in southern Lebanon.

Al-Manar TV Lebanon

After the meeting, the analysis says Mr. Leiter stated that Israel and Lebanon were united to "liberate Lebanon" from Hezbollah, and it notes this occurred less than a week after April 8, when Israeli fighter jets ravaged large parts of the country.

The analysis states that on April 8 Israel killed at least 303 people and injured 1,150, and it says Israel named the bombardment campaign 'Operation Eternal Darkness'.

It then says that two days after the Washington talks, Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 10-day 'ceasefire', but that the Israeli army continued to bomb and demolish Lebanese villages in direct violation of international law.

A separate article from Vietnam.vn, citing the AP, describes a conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon that has endured for more than forty years, marked by sporadic clashes and periods of tension and calm.

“This video shows footage marking Resistance and Liberation Day under the title: “And every Resistance and Liberation Day, may you be victorious”

Al-Manar TV Lebanon

It recalls that in 1982 Israel invaded Lebanon to attack the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and its allies, and that Hezbollah, formed with support from Iran to resist the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, launched a war against Israel.

The Vietnam.vn account also says that on September 27, 2024, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed during a series of large-scale airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut, and it adds that November 27, 2024 saw a ceasefire negotiated by the United States officially end the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

It then says that Israel continued to carry out regular airstrikes in Lebanon after that ceasefire, citing the need to prevent Hezbollah from reconstituting its forces, and it notes that on March 2, 2026 Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel two days after an Israeli-American strike against Iran.

Against that backdrop, the Palestine Media Agency analysis argues that tens of thousands of Lebanese, the vast majority Shiites, will have no home to return to, and it says Hezbollah has warned about the scenario while warning that ongoing Israeli destruction and occupation will strengthen Hezbollah’s position vis-à-vis the Lebanese state.