DEARBORN, Mich. (WXYZ) — An Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon over the weekend has led to mourning in metro Detroit, with the victims having direct ties to Dearborn.
Chadi Charara and three of his children — 10-year-old Celine Charara and 18-month-old twins Hadi and Cylan — were killed when their car was hit by an Israeli drone strike. The Israeli government confirmed the strike, saying it was targeting a nearby Hezbollah operative but acknowledged that innocent civilians were killed.
Watch Brett Kast's video report below:
The victims were not U.S. citizens but were in the process of obtaining visas to come to the U.S., according to family members. A 13-year-old sibling remains on life support, while the children's mother survived the attack.
"You know, every day you open the news, you see another family massacred till one day, you wake up and it's your own — it hits different," said Mohamed Charara, a cousin of the victims.
Mohamed Charara had visited the family in Lebanon less than a week before the deadly strike. As he scrolled through photos on his iPhone, he showed images that were meant to bring joy but now bring heartache.
"This is me giving Hadi a gift, same gift they found his body with," Mohamed Charara said.
The Israeli military said they are reviewing the attack.
"The children were found dead on impact, completely maimed, their father just the same," said Shelia Charara, an aunt and sister-in-law of the victims. "We have an entire family massacred, leaving us heartbroken forever."
Shelia Charara described the close bond between the families, saying they spent summers together every year and their children were raised together.
"We spent our summers with them every year, our children are raised with his children. We are forever shaken. This whole community is shaken," Shelia Charara said.
Hundreds attended two days of mourning services in Dearborn, where the majority of the Charara family lives. Family members remembered Chadi Charara as a devoted father whose priority was raising his children.
"He made it clear to me his number 1 priority was raising his family, making sure his kids were fed and educated," Mohamed Charara said.
"I've known him for 27 years," Shelia Charara added. "This is the purest of gentlemen, purest of heart. Most hard working, honest goodhearted, like all the civilians in Lebanon."
The strike occurred despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement between Hezbollah and Israel reached in November. The Charara family is calling on all the governments involved to bring the bloodshed to an end.
"People in this community are at a loss, but one thing we know is our voices put together will get justice. They're gone, but there needs to be justice, there needs to be accountability," Shelia Charara said. “Are the lives and bloodshed of innocent civilians, whether they were soon-to-be U.S. citizens, Lebanese citizens, of no value? These are children.”
The mourning services lasted two hours each day, reflecting the deep impact the tragedy has had on Dearborn's Lebanese American community.
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