Amid Ongoing Conflict in Southern Lebanon, Tyre Civil Defence Chief Ali Safiuddin Balances Personal Grief and Duty

Ali Safiuddin, the head of the Civil Defence in Tyre, has spent his life and career coming to terms with both life and loss. Although southern Lebanon is officially covered by a ceasefire, frequent bombings and shelling continue along the “Yellow Line” – the security zone claimed by Israel.

“Things are relatively normal,” Safiuddin remarked on a late June morning in southern Lebanon, explaining that while the Israeli military is not directly striking Tyre, the war persists on the outskirts within the 10km (6 miles) military zone imposed inside Lebanon’s borders. Safiuddin is the subject of a new short film from Al Jazeera Originals titled The Ones We Couldn’t Save.

His career rescuing civilians trapped under rubble has accustomed him to profound loss. During the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, he sheltered his wife and one-year-old daughter, Lynn, beneath the Civil Defence centre believing it to be safe. An Israeli strike on the building killed Lynn, an event that continues to haunt him while motivating his mission to save others. “I feel that my daughter, my daughter’s soul, is with me,” he stated.

In the film, he recalls saving a 14-year-old girl after 18 hours of manual labor following the 2020 Beirut explosion, which was triggered by a stockpile of ammonium nitrate at the port and killed at least 218 people while wounding thousands. “If my daughter were alive, she would have been her age,” Safiuddin said. “This girl remained alive, so I feel that I’m bringing back my daughter’s soul.”

Family ties remain central to his work. His 18-year-old son, Husein, now serves alongside him in the Civil Defence, and Safiuddin views all the men under his command as his sons. He hopes the film exposes the brutality of Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, including the killing of children and the elderly, as well as the assassination of his colleagues.

Despite a recent reduction in Israeli attacks north of the “Yellow Line”, an Israeli double-tap strike on April 28 in the village of Majdal Zoun killed three members of his team: Hussein Ghadbouni, Hussein Sati, and Hadi Daher. According to the UN, Israel has targeted Lebanon’s first responders and healthcare workers extensively, killing at least 135 since the beginning of March. These threats have forced teams to adapt their operations, with Safiuddin noting that one ambulance now enters a raid site while a second waits outside.

Daher had volunteered with Ali’s team since the age of 15. Mourning the loss, Safiuddin affirmed, “We have a pact – if anyone dies before the other, we will keep them alive through our mission.”

Using the current relative respite to prepare for future assaults and rehabilitate the targeted Civil Defence headquarters, Safiuddin remains resolute. “I no longer have any fear. I have no fear. I fear for those with me. But I have no fear of war. If I give up on this work, it’s like I’m giving up on my daughter.”