Al-Baba said his sister told him before she was killed that she was worried about a much-loved Shia tenant, mainly because he had been receiving guests. She feared he might be a target of Israel and asked her brother if he should go. She decided to stay because she had no idea where to go.

Neither al-Baba nor his sister knew anything about the tenant’s connection to Hezbollah.

The Israeli strikes have raised fears among the Lebanese that their building could be hit because it houses someone Israel claims, rightly or wrongly, to be linked to Hezbollah. The building administrations asked the tenants to declare with them the names of the displaced shelters. Some refused to receive people from the south.

The first shot hit the lower floors of the building around 4:00 p.m. The Ramadan family was shocked but did not believe the building was collapsing. Only Ramadan’s wife, Jinan, ran up the stairs. A few moments passed, long enough for Ramadan’s son, Achraf, to bring Julia’s sister a glass of water to calm her down.

Then the second missile hit. The building swayed, then collapsed.

Ramadan fell from the couch, which together with a nearby wardrobe protected him from the falling ceiling. Achraf, a fitness trainer and former soldier, took shelter under the door frame. Julia fell to the floor.

For two hours, the three communicated through the rubble. Ramadan said Julia was only two meters away, her voice faint but audible. He called for help using the cell phone still in his hands.

When help came, Achraf got out first; then his father, about six hours after the strike. In the chaos, they thought Julia had been kicked out. But rescuers returned to find the 28-year-old dead. Her mother died in hospital from internal bleeding.

“I lost the cornerstone of the house: my wife, my partner and my friend,” Ramadan said. “I lost my daughter Julia… She was my joy, my smile, my future.”

They are buried in unmarked graves in a section of the Sidon cemetery dedicated to the victims of the Ain el Delb building.

As in Gaza, there is concern that the number of civilian casualties is “quite high,” given that the alleged military target is often undeclared or relatively small, said Rich Weir, senior conflict, crisis and weapons researcher at Human Rights Watch.

He said there was an “escalation in the amount of damage … the demolition of entire buildings in densely populated residential neighborhoods, which brings inherent risks to civilians.” Israel has also expanded the scope of its objectives, hitting Hezbollah financial institutions, he said.

Ramadan was not surprised by the killing of so many people for a possible Hezbollah member. It’s happened before, he said.

“We hear on the news that an apartment was targeted. And people wonder who it was,” he said. “People don’t know. Israel knows.”

At the bottom of the wreckage of the building, Hecham al-Baba was trapped in complete darkness for four hours, huddled with his legs bent beneath him. The falling door had broken two of his ribs. It was hard to breathe. All he could think was that he might lose his legs.

“There was no blood in my legs,” he said. “I couldn’t feel them. I couldn’t move. I tried to stay strong. I don’t want to remember. It upsets me.”

Finally, he heard movement: people removing bricks, a bulldozer. He started screaming. His lungs and chest hurt. They called him to shout louder. “I told them I couldn’t.”

Then, through a hole, a beam of light flashed into the darkness. At the sight of him, a rescuer shouted, “What a way to be stuck! It’s worse than a coffin.”

It took another four hours before rescuers pulled him out headfirst through the floor beneath him, covered in dust and soot.

The entire rescue operation took more than 43 hours. The health ministry put the death toll at 45, but the head of civil defense for Sidon, Mohamed Arkadan, said first responders had pulled 73 bodies from the rubble. Five bodies remain undiscovered, he said.

Doctors told al-Baba that his ribs would heal with time.

But not his pain.

He said he would wear black for the rest of his life to mourn his sister. Past conflicts have never prevented him from returning to Lebanon to visit family. This time, it may be a while before he returns.

“There will be no peace,” he said, thinking of his family’s tragedy and the wars in Lebanon and Gaza. “No one will do me justice. None.”