NABATIEH, Lebanon: When Kamal Kamal heard a ceasefire deal had been agreed between Iran and the US, he rushed back to the southern city of Nabatieh only to find an Israeli strike had reduced his life’s work to rubble.
The city, usually home to some 90,000 people before the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah erupted on March 2, was largely deserted as Israel pressed its military offensive in the area in recent days.
Kamal fought back tears as he stared in stunned disbelief at the pile of rubble that used to be his roastery and warehouse for coffee and other products, after Israel pummeled the region with strikes and issued sweeping evacuation orders.
“When I opened it in the 70s, I was still a young man ... now nothing is left,” he said, leaning heavily on a walking stick and surveying the vast destruction.
“How my life has been spent in vain here!“
