Lebanon's war-torn funeral rites: a glimpse of loss and displacement

In Lebanon, the tradition of a final farewell before burial has been shattered by war. As the conflict escalates, families are forced to abandon customary funeral rites and hastily inter loved ones in temporary graveyards, far from their ancestral homes.

Temporary graves, permanent pain

In the city of Tyre, 2-meter-wide ditches have been dug to hastily bury the dead. Amid the chaos, the burial process is often rushed and brutal, with bodies sometimes arriving in pieces.

Rabih Koubaissi, a funeral supervisor, has stayed behind to oversee burials despite the danger and Israeli orders to evacuate.