In scrubland on the outskirts of Tyre, southern Lebanon, they started digging out the bodies – 186 of them.
One family of women, mothers and daughters all dressed in black, fell on the coffin of their brother, their son, stroking it, sweeping the dust off, wailing.
His name was Hussein Fakih and he was a Hezbollah militant.
This was not an ordinary graveyard.
Pic: Michael Greenfield/Sky
A makeshift mass grave, the corpses were mainly those of Hezbollah fighters. A temporary solution while the war was at its raging peak.
Get them in the ground quick. Bury them later.
Framed against a bright blue sky, a yellow digger scraped the topsoil off. People wore masks to protect against the overpowering stench.
Others went to the exposed coffins, wiping the dirt off the nameplates to see who the coffins contained.
Pic: Michael Greenfield/Sky
We spoke to one 15-year-old boy, waiting for them to find his father Moeen Ezzedine, a senior Hezbollah commander who had been in charge of its forces in Tyre, Lebanon’s second city.
He was killed in an airstrike in early November.
“As martyr Ezzedine says, martyrdom is sweeter to us than honey: that’s how much we love martyrdom,” Mohammad said of his father.
“I am so proud of him and will stay on his path because he was martyred for the Palestinian cause.
“Hopefully I am on his path and hopefully I will meet him.”
Pic: Michael Greenfield/Sky
There is no shortage of sons willing to take their fathers’ place, even if it means joining them in the ground.
A cry went up when they found Ezzedine. His sister collapsed, crying “Oh God, oh God.”
Blood and rotted matter seeped from a corner of the coffin as they turned it.
Mohammad helped carry the coffin into the ambulance and stood there watching, silent, as the doors closed.
Pic: Michael Greenfield/Sky
Hezbollah’s stated aim is to destroy Israel and it is designated as a terrorist organisation by the US, UK, Israel and other governments.
The group fired missiles into Israel on 8 October 2023 in support of Gaza, sparking the most recent round of violence between the two sworn enemies.
This exhumation is only possible because of the ceasefire agreed by Israel and Hezbollah. And as the diggers went about their work, UN troops drove past.
They were moving south, to take up the positions formerly held by these Hezbollah fighters, as part of the ceasefire agreement.
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That agreement means people have been able to return to Tyre, an ancient city – and they have found fresh ruins.
Block after block has been levelled – the Israeli air force was hitting right up until the truce came into force at 4am on Wednesday.
Imad Hijazi thought his mobile phone repair shop had survived more than a year of war. But he came back to find it a wreck.
“This shop, the last day before they stopped firing, the last day, it’s damaged,” he said. “An hour before [the ceasefire].”
“I’m feeling bad, very, very bad. I’ve worked here for almost 15 years. I don’t know what to do now.”
Pic: Michael Greenfield/Sky
It will probably take years for this city to recover fully.
At the grave site, people kept telling us that death – “martyrdom” as they put it – was victory.
Victory looks bleak.
