"Zeinab, Abbas, and their older brother Mohammed, 10, were admitted to the Center for Intensive Burns at Geitawi Hospital Saturday after Tibnine Hospital and Sidon’s Hammoud Hospital were unable to cope with the extent of their wounds".
"The children were visiting their grandmother, Fatima Maaz ­ who was also wounded in the attack ­ when a mortar shell ripped through the living room, showering phosphorous over the house and its occupants".

"The "Israeli"s" and their South Lebanon Army proxies regularly use shells filled with white phosphorous in the south. Although the weapons are designed to produce an immediate smoke screen to provide cover for troops, the "Israeli"s" frequently use them against personnel. The phosphorous ignites spontaneously on contact with air and is very difficult to douse".

"Mohammed, who was in the kitchen at the time of the attack and sustained the lightest wounds, was discharged from hospital Sunday. But Zeinab and Abbas remain there, struggling for their lives".

"Dr. Georges Ghanimeh, the burns specialist who is treating the children, told The Daily Star that their condition was grim. “They’re suffering from deep third-degree burns and their situation is critical,” he said.

"Jamileh Maaz, the children’s mother, has not been allowed to be with them due to the risk of infection. “I can only look at them through the window, even though the baby’s crying for me to be near him,” she said.

"She said she had been kept in the dark about the condition of her children and all she can do is wait.

She had been tending cattle with her husband in fields near Majdal Silm when the mortar attack occurred. They learned of their children’s wounds later."

“My husband and I came here by taxi yesterday after we found out where they had taken our children,” she said.

"Mrs. Maaz is worried that her daughter may be scarred for life. “Zeinab opened one eye and looked at me earlier,” she said. “But she can’t speak, she can only murmur and nod. She’s in a lot of pain.”

She also fears for her children’s eyesight and hearing. “Phosphorous bombs burn, their smoke blinds and suffocates,” said Mrs. Maaz who is well versed in the different types of shells used by the "Israeli"s" and the havoc they wreak".

"Majdal Silm is on the edge of the central sector of the occupation zone and the surroundings area is shelled by the "Israeli"s" on an almost daily basis. But Saturday’s bombardment was the first time the center of the village had been hit since the April war in 1996"

"Like many others, Mrs. Maaz has adopted a fatalistic attitude to help her cope with living in a war zone. Despite the fact that three of her six children have been wounded and two of them lie battling against death, she refuses to succumb to self-pity"
“Whatever happens to a person in life is written by God,” she said. “All I’m asking for is that with God’s will, my children will get better.”