Artist paints on walls of homes damaged by Israeli strikes in Lebanon

Surrounded by rubble and debris, Lebanese artist Mohamed Younes paints graffiti on the walls of homes damaged by Israeli strikes in Tyre, turning scenes of destruction into messages of resilience.

"I wanted to combine the letter and colour with the destruction," Younes told Reuters on Monday (April 6).

Younes, an art teacher for 35 years, said schools and universities remain closed due to the war, making art a vital outlet. He encouraged other artists to visit the sites of destruction and paint in it.

Israel's full-scale air and ground campaign, launched in retaliation for Hezbollah firing into Israel on March 2 in solidarity with Iran, has killed more than 1,460 people, according to Lebanese authorities.

The air campaign and Israel's orders for people to leave swathes of Lebanon's south, east, and Beirut's southern suburbs have displaced more than a million people, most of them from the Shi'ite Muslim community from which Hezbollah draws its support.

-Production: Jihed Abidellaoui, Emilie Madi/Reuters