'They were amazing people': Canadian man remembers parents killed in Lebanon

Two Canadians killed in southern Lebanon amid an ongoing Israeli bombing campaign have been identified, according to their son.

Speaking from Bahrain, Kamal Tabaja told CBC News that his parents, 74-year-old Hussein Tabaja and 69-year-old Daad Tabaja, were killed after fleeing Nabatieh district in southern Lebanon.

Global Affairs Canada said late Tuesday that it had been «informed of the deaths of two Canadian citizens» but has not yet confirmed their identities or released further details.

Kamal said his parents immigrated to Canada in 1996 and became Canadian citizens three years later. The two lived in Ottawa for a time and had been living in Lebanon for the last five years.

Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese have fled their homes and hospitals have filled with the wounded since Israel intensified bombing on Monday, when more than 550 people were killed in Lebanon's deadliest day since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.

Tabaja said he called his mother early Monday morning and urged them to evacuate from southern Lebanon to Beirut, saying they weren't safe where they were. He said they were stuck in traffic for a prolonged time and that he was in contact with them until that evening.

Kamal also said they had heard that the Israeli military bombed the area that evening.

By the next morning, Kamal said he was losing hope. «I knew that there is no way they couldn't have gotten in touch with us,» he said.

Kamal said his brother in Beirut went to search for their parents and found the wreckage of their car in Ghazieh. An explosion had blown the vehicle off the road. Inside the incinerated car was their mother's watch.

«I didn't believe it. I had myself prepared since the morning to expect news like this… I guess it's just the