Nearly 90 percent of the population of Christian villages in southern Lebanon have left their homes since October to seek shelter from daily rocket fire on the Israeli-Lebanese border.
By Lisa Zengarini
Christians living in southern Lebanon’s border villages celebrated a quiet Christmas this year, in the shadow of the ongoing war in Gaza and its repercussions in Lebanon.
Since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah and Israeli forces have engaged in near-daily border clashes that have reportedly killed 159 people on the Lebanese side, most of them militants. Hezbollah and Hamas. their allied groups, but also at least 17 civilians.
Fears of an escalation into full-scale war have further increased in recent days after Israeli forces killed six Hezbollah fighters, including Hussein Ibrahim Salameh, also known as “Nasser.”
Christian villages hit by crossfire
While Israeli strikes were directed against Hezbollah targets, mostly located in Shiite areas, a number of Christian villages also suffered collateral damage, forcing many families to flee to the North.
According to data obtained by the Pontifical Foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) iIn Alma Al-Shaab, the worst-hit village, 15 houses were destroyed by missiles.
While Christian families in Beirut offered shelter to the displaced families, some of those who fled have since returned to their devastated homes due to the lack of long-term shelter in other parts of the country.
Xavier Stephen Bisits, ACN Projects Manager in Lebanon, reported that some agricultural fields were also damaged, impacting the livelihoods of many already poor families due to the current economic and financial crisis. in Liban.
Mr. Bisits said all priests and religious remained in the villages to care for those who are too old or too frail to move. He added that the Maronite bishop of Tire recently celebrated mass in the village of Rmeich, under the threat of bombs, and that the Melkite bishop of Tire also made a tour to check the condition of the faithful in the villages border crossers. “This is a testament to the strong faith and resilience of the people of this region,” he said.
Fears of escalation in Lebanon
Bisits confirmed that there is widespread fear of an escalation of fighting, with the current conflict bringing back memories of the war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.
Local religious leaders told ACN that another war would pose a major threat to the historic Christian presence in the region. ACN helped alleviate suffering, providing food packages, medical assistance and access to online education to students in Catholic schools in southern Lebanon.
Patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi pleads for Lebanon to remain neutral
Amid growing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, on Christmas Day, Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Al-Rahi reiterated his call for Lebanon to remain neutral. “We reject the extension of the war to the villages of the south,” declared the patriarch in his Christmas homily. “Lebanon is not a land of war but a land of dialogue and peace.”
While denouncing the deaths in Gaza, Cardinal Al-Rahi recalled that the expansion of the war in Lebanon contradicts both UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which was adopted to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, and the “Baabda Declaration” of 2012 which emphasized Lebanon’s neutrality in the face of events in the Middle East region.
“Lebanon’s neutrality has been at the heart of Lebanon’s identity since 1860, and it is politically neutral in the sense that it neither fights nor is fought,” the Patriarch said.
