Twenty-five days into the ceasefire that brought desperately-needed relief to the people of Lebanon, Hussein Bzeih, 15 and his brother Ali, 13 were seriously hurt in an explosion as they searched through the rubble of their home.

The Bzeih family house was destroyed during the bombardment of southern Lebanon. On the 6 September 2006, the brothers had returned to search through the remains of their home for their possessions, as they'd done many times before.

Looking for school books

The two brothers were injured as they picked through the ruin for their school books. There was no sound. They saw a bluish-yellow flame and Hussein grabbed at his neck thinking Ali had just thrown something at him until Ali exclaimed "Stop it!  You're tearing at your skin."

Both children needed surgery after suffering second degree burns on their faces.

Islamic Relief staff visited Hussein in hospital after he came out of surgery. The skin on his neck was almost completely removed. 

Their sister, Hiba, a trainee doctor, was in the hospital room. "We were told about unexploded ordinance but nobody expected there to be anything like that within a destroyed house!" she said. 

Hiba spoke of the shock of seeing her brothers with their faces burnt. They will need at least a month to recover. In the newly regained peace, the boys had been looking forward to starting school and resuming a normal routine. 

This accident adds to the distress the family already faced on seeing the ruins of the home in which they have lived for thirty years, and in which the children were born and grew up.

Blitzed village

The Bzeih family house is in the village of Zebqine in south-west Lebanon, where 85% of the houses were totally destroyed in the 34-day war. House after house now lies in ruins. Forty homes were turned to mounds of concrete, mangled with memories and possessions, just five minutes before the ceasefire began.

Across Zebqine families are trying to get by from day to day with no electricity to light their homes, to store their food or to extract water from their wells. The Bzeih family is living with friends in Jbeil Botm. They expect that it will take at least a year or two to rebuild their home.

Farmland scattered with bombs

The people of Zebqine depend on charities to supply bottled drinking water but they don't know how long they receive this. There is no shop for people to buy even the most basic produce. They can scarcely afford anything as most have lost their sources of income. 

One other child from the village has been admitted to hospital today after being hurt by a bomb. People in every village in the south are struggling to access their fields where their livelihoods lie. The land is scattered with bombs that are waiting to be cleared.

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