Israeli attacks force an exodus of Christians from southern Lebanon

The small Christian community of the city of Tiro remains concentrated in a corner of the old city, next to the port, with iconography of the Virgin, shrines and effigies of saints that contrast sharply with the huge portraits of Hassan Nasrallah, the late leader of Hizbulá, and other militants that dominate the rest of the southern metropolis.

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El Mundo

Raimond Baradai is one of the die-hards who refuses to leave but admits that "90% of the Christians" in the neighborhood have already gone as Israeli bombings pounded the largest city in the Lebanese border region.

El Mundo

Baradai said he "left during the 2006 war, but I didn't leave in the 2024 one" and added, "Lebanon has been at war with Israel since it was created in 1948. It didn't start with Hizbulá. Hizbulá didn't exist."

The death of the well-known cleric Pierre al-Rai in an attack by Israeli forces caused genuine shock in the southern area and prompted the immediate flight of the few Christians who remained in the village of Alma al-Shaab, who escaped escorted by blue helmets.

Witnesses and the mayor of Qlayaa said Al-Rai died after Israeli forces fired first at a teacher's house, then fired again when ambulances and Father Pierre had arrived, and they blamed a projectile from Israeli positions for the death; the mayor, Hanna Daher, said "It's a lie. There were no groups (of Hizbulá)."

El Mundo

Lebanese media also reported that the same village recently suffered punishment from the Israeli army when one Christian inhabitant was killed while watering his garden.

The article notes that Israel has demanded that all residents settled south of the Litani River leave that area and that Al-Rai had urged Christians not to abandon the region.

The killing of Al-Rai intensified social and political divisions: Samir Geaea, leader of the Lebanese Forces, tried to justify the priest's death by saying there had been an "infiltration" of Hizbulá militants into the village that provoked the Israeli reaction, and his accusations triggered a violent exchange of accusations on social media.

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The local office of his party in Qlayaa lashed out at Hizbulá and said the priest died in what it defined as "an imported war" and "fought by outlaws,"

The highest authority of the Maronite Church, Bechara Rai, joined accusations against Hizbulá for "participating unilaterally" in the conflict and urged that the group be disarmed.

Forces under the command of Naim Qassem, whose military potential the article says exceeds that of the local army, have warned that any plan to disarm Hizbulá would lead the state to a new fratricidal war.

The article records escalating fear and displacement: international forces confirmed they had escorted about 80 people and said the population—mostly Christian—was now empty in some enclaves as had happened in the 2024 war, with many residents "considering leaving," according to a resident of Qlaya.

Tel Aviv's troops have intensified their advance on the border amid violent clashes with Hizbulá paramilitaries, and the city of Rmeich, with more than 5,000 inhabitants and one of the few Christian-majority urban centers near Israel, has received an ultimatum and seen many people depart.

El Mundo

Residents cited a threatening phone call from an Israeli uniformed man who demanded that the municipality expel displaced Shiite Muslims or face attack—"We know who's there. If there is anyone from Hizbulá we will attack. The responsibility is yours," the Israeli interlocutor was heard saying—and some Christians voiced the fear that "this war is not like the one in 2006 or the ones in 2024. Now nobody knows what Israel wants. Maybe to kill everyone and occupy the entire southern region."

The article also records international and ecclesiastical reactions, including a Vatican message via Telegram from Pope Leo XIV expressing "deep sorrow," and acknowledgements from the Military Archbishopric of Spain and the outgoing Spanish ambassador to Lebanon, Jesús Santos.