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Smoke and debris rise after a building is hit by an Israeli airstrike in the area of Abbasiyeh, on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, on April 8, 2026. Kawnat Haju/AFP via Getty Images
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says a Canadian citizen has died in southern Lebanon as Israel conducts a military offensive against Hezbollah.
“Today I was made aware of the death of a Canadian in southern Lebanon,” Anand wrote in an April 13 statement. “On behalf of the Government of Canada, I extend my deepest condolences to his family and loved ones as well as to the broader community.”
The man, Windsor, Ont., resident Mohamad Hassan Haidar, was a father of five. He had returned to Lebanon to care for his horses, according to a statement posted on Facebook by his sister, Fatima Haidar.
Haidar had run outside of his home in southern Lebanon to respond to cries from an injured person on his property, and he and the injured person were killed in a strike by Israel, Fatima Haidar said.
The exact details of his death have not been confirmed by the Canadian government.
Global Affairs Canada told The Epoch Times it is providing consular assistance to the family, but offered no further details on the circumstances of Haidar’s death.
The Epoch Times reached out to the Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Israeli Defense Forces for comment but didn’t hear back by publication time.
Israel has been waging an offensive in Lebanon against Hezbollah targets since early March. The offensive is in response to Hezbollah attacks against Israel. Those attacks, in turn, were launched by Hezbollah to retaliate for the killing of Iranian leader Ali Khamenei at the start of the U.S.-Israeli operation in Iran.
Anand has called for an end to the conflict, urging Israel to cease airstrikes against Lebanon and for Hezbollah to abandon its weapons.
The Lebanese government has not moved forward with disarming Hezbollah since it made the commitment as part of a ceasefire reached with Israel in 2024.
Ceasefire Without Lebanon
The United States and Iran reached a ceasefire last week amid a diplomatic push to end hostilities, but each side disagreed on whether the ceasefire includes Lebanon. The United States and Israel say it doesn’t, while Iran says it does.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said during a press conference on April 9 that efforts toward a ceasefire in the Iran war must include Lebanon.
“The ceasefire needs to include Lebanon, that’s clear. That’s very important,” he said.
Carney also called Israel’s offensive “an illegal invasion of Lebanon” and a “violation of their territorial integrity and sovereignty.”
Israeli Ambassador to Canada Iddo Moed responded to the criticism, saying, “Israel acts within international law while keeping civilians out of harm’s way and conducts its military operations accordingly.”
Israeli Minister of Defence Israel Katz said the country’s intention is to establish a security zone in southern Lebanon up to the Litani River.
“Israel’s policy in Lebanon is clear: where there is terror and missiles - there are no homes and no residents,” he wrote in a social media post on March 24.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to host working-level peace talks on April 14 between Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador to the United States Nada Hamadeh Moawad at the Department of State.
Israel and Lebanon have not maintained official diplomatic relations since 1948, having remained in a technical state of conflict for 78 years.
