Canadian couple killed in Lebanon, says son

Two Canadians killed in southern Lebanon have been identified, according to their son. 

Speaking from Bahrain, Kamal Tabaja told CBC News that his parents, 74-year-old Hussein Tabaja and 69-year-old Daad Tabaja, were killed in the Nabatieh district in southern Lebanon.

Global Affairs Canada said late Tuesday that it had been "informed of the deaths of two Canadian citizens."

Kamal said his parents immigrated to Canada in 1996 and became Canadian citizens three years later. The two lived in Ottawa for a time and had been living in Lebanon for the last five years.

Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese have fled their homes and hospitals have filled with the wounded since an intensification of bombing on Monday, when more than 550 people were killed in Lebanon's deadliest day since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.

Kamal Tabaja, centre, with his parents Daad, left and Hussein, right. Kamal confirmed his parents, who moved from Ottawa to Lebanon before the pandemic, died while trying to flee their home in southern Lebanon amid Israeli airstrikes against Hezbollah. (Kamal Tabaja)

Tabaja said he called his mother early Monday morning and urged them to evacuate from southern Lebanon to Beirut, saying they weren't safe where they were. He said they were stuck in traffic for a prolonged time and that he was in contact with them until that evening.

By the next morning, Kamal said he was losing hope. "I knew that there is no way they couldn't have gotten in touch with us," he said.

Kamal said his brother in Beirut went to search for their parents and found the wreckage of their car. Inside the car was their mother's watch.

"I didn't believe it. I had myself prepared since the morning to expect news like this... I guess it's just the shock," he said.

Canadians urged to leave Lebanon

The Israeli militaryhas mounted its heaviest airstrikes on Lebanon in nearly a year of conflict this week, targeting Hezbollah leaders and hitting hundreds of sites deep inside Lebanon while Hezbollah has fired barrages of rockets into Israel.

At least 51 people were killed and 223 wounded in Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Wednesday, Lebanon's Health Minister Firass Abiad told a press conference.

Months of conflict across the border with southern Lebanon has intensified sharply, raising fears the conflict could further destabilize the Middle East. The UN Security Council was meeting on Wednesday to discuss the conflict.

Canada and the U.S. have urged their citizens to leave Lebanon while the country's international airport in Beirut remains open.

Tabaja said the bodies of his parents have yet to be identified by the hospital, but hopes that will happen soon.