(ZENIT News – La Bussola Quotidiana / Brussels, 10.02.2025).- The truce in Lebanon, between Hezbollah and Israel, which was to expire on January 27, has been extended to February 18. According to the agreement stipulated two months before, by this date Hezbollah should withdraw 30 km from the border with the Jewish State, leaving the control of the southern region to the Lebanese regular Army, and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) should have withdrawn from the country altogether. In reality, the Israeli Army continues to occupy the eastern sector of Southern Lebanon and has caused the death of at least 30 Lebanese citizens that were attempting to return to their villages, encouraged by the leaders of the Shi’ite parties.
Father Abdo Raad, Melkite Lebanese priest (namely, of the Greek-Catholic Rite) of the Diocese of Sidon, at present Fidei donum in the Diocese of Campobasso-Bojano, has just returned from southern Lebanon. We took advantage of the occasion to ask him about how life is currently in the region and, in particular, the difficulties that Christians face.
Q: Father Abdo, what is the situation in southern Lebanon at present?
A: During the four days I spent in the south of the country, I visited the Melkite Bishop of Tyre, His Excellency Georges Iskandar, and the parishes of some villages of the diocese: Tibnin, Safad al-Battikh, Derdghaya, Baraashit. I was not able to reach the border villages because they continue to be occupied by Israel and one is not permitted to go there. I have seen an indescribable devastation in all the places I went to. The predictions, for the near future aren’t promising: it doesn’t seem that Hezbollah has the will to hand over its weapons to the Lebanese Army, given that the Jewish State is the first to ignore the truce and has even stated that it does not want to leave Lebanon before totally eliminating Hezbollah’s weapons and men.
I don’t think that the extension of the truce to February 18 will change this situation. Monsignor Iskandar believes that, sooner or later, Hezbollah will respect the pacts and completely leave the south (it has already cleared many areas) to facilitate the withdrawal of the IDF, the return of the people to their homes and the reconstruction of the country. Personally, I think that Israel will never accept the return of the Lebanese to the villages it has already devastated.
Q: What is the situation of the Christian people of the south? How many Christians have stayed in their homes during the Israeli aggression? How many have been displaced and how many returned after January 27?
A: Christians are the innocent victims of this war. This said, the villages inhabited only by Christians in which Hezbollah doesn’t have military positions, such as Rmeich, Marjayoun, Ebel al-Dsaqi, Ain Ebel, Al-Qlaiaah, Deir Mimas, have been spared in great measure from the bombings, although the war has raged strongly in the surrounding areas. Despite Israel’s threats for them to abandon these villages, almost all the inhabitants, including the priests, refused to leave their houses, which became refuges for journalists and the displaced from other countries. Instead, in the “mixed” villages, namely those inhabited both by Shi’ites as well as Christians, such as Yaroun, for example, the bombings have reached churches and houses. Several churches have been destroyed or seriously damaged, as well as Christians’ homes. I asked Father M., parish priest of a destroyed village, why this was happening. The answer was predictable: the Hezbollah militias hid in Christian houses and churches, thinking they’d be protected and that Israel wouldn’t dare to bomb them. Instead, the IDF bombed all the buildings indiscriminately where they suspected there were Hezbollah militias. Among the Christians, almost no one has returned to the bombed villages as the houses are destroyed. Some only go on Sundays to see their properties and meet for Mass or prayer. In the Safad al-Battikh parish I met only one Christian. A few, whose homes are still habitable, have returned and get help from some NGO’s to buy fuel and food. The truce notwithstanding, the people live moments of anxiety and fear, as well as great economic precariousness. According to Monsignor Iskandar, before the Israeli aggression of last Fall there were almost three thousand Christian families in the whole diocese; today they are fewer than one thousand.
Q: What is the relationship of Christians of the south with Hezbollah?
A: Hezbollah forms part of Lebanon; its people live elbow to elbow. In the south, Christians and Shi’ites share daily life, the same sufferings and the same needs; they share many things. Hezbollah has helped some Christian families whose houses no longer exist, just as it has given money to Muslim families so that they can have a rented house. However, the differences aren’t few and sometimes they are fundamental. The Shi’ites of Hezbollah have received a different education, both religious as well as political. There are also differences. in the way of dressing, of eating, of drinking, of praying . . . It’s true that respect is not lacking, but the Christians don’t feel truly free in the predominantly Shi’ite villages.
Q: Over the last year and a half of the war I have met some Christians in Lebanon who said to me “better with Israel than with Hezbollah,” hoping that Israel would enter Lebanon to carry out a “cleansing” and eliminate the Shi’ites from the country. How many Christians think like this, especially in the south?
A: There are fanatics everywhere: when they can no longer live together, it is hoped that the other is thrown overboard. In my opinion, we are not faced with a conflict between Muslims and Christians, but faced with a divergence between the socio-political vision of Lebanon which Hezbollah has and that which the Christians have, including in the south, some Christians want to put an end to Hezbollah They are tired of living together with a militia stronger than the State, which decides about peace and war without asking the opinion of the rest of the country’s citizens, including the Christians. Moreover, there are also Shi’ites that do not share Hezbollah’s thought. The Christians don’t want war with Israel. On the contrary, they want the weapons to be the exclusive prerogative of the Lebanese Army. They would like to engage in conversations of peace with the Jewish State, although it will be very difficult for this to happen. For its part, Hezbollah has a different vision and doesn’t believe in peace with Israel, given that the Jewish State doesn’t recognize the Palestinian State and has always wanted to occupy the south and, perhaps, even the whole of Lebanon.
Q: What relationships do the Christians of the south have with Israel?
A: The Christian of the south have no relationship with Israel; they cannot enter Israel, just as all the Lebanese. If the Jewish State continues with the occupation, as it did in 1980-2000, the population of the region will have no other remedy than to suffer it, to not to abandon their land. Sometimes the Christians of the south are falsely accused of being spies of the Israelis, which isn’t true. For some, Israel seems to be a more democratic country, under whose wing they can be freer, but no one wants the Jewish State to occupy Lebanon. Rather, Christians want Hezbollah to change its strategy and limit itself to being a political party.
Q: How do Lebanese Christians see the Israeli violations of the truce and the killing of the inhabitants of the south who are trying to return to their homes?
A: It’s not easy to speak of the Christians in general, given that there are differences between them. For some it’s still not safe to return to their homes because neither Israel nor Hezbollah respect the agreed agreement. To return to their home in this situation does not seem a logical option. The Christians lament that their neighbours and friends are being killed by Israel and ask for more patience and more caution until there is a real truce or a real peace, and the Lebanese Army takes control of all the south together with UNIFIL (the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon). For them, it’s not about violations, but a continuous war that Hezbollah could also renew at any moment, perhaps in a different way. In sum, between Hezbollah and Israel the life of the few Christians that remain in the south of Lebanon isn’t at all easy.
Q: Are the Christians in Lebanon very divided at present over foreign and interior policy?
A: I wouldn’t say very divided, but yes somewhat divided, more for personal interests than political ideals. All Lebanese Christians want more or less a system of civil government similar to those in force in the European countries. But to put it into practice, a separation between religion and politics is necessary, something that’s not at all easy in the Islamic world, to the point that such a system cannot be accepted by the Muslims, neither Shi’ites nor Sunnis. In the matter of foreign policy, no one wants Iran, as no one wants Israel.
