Filipe d’Avillez y Amy Balog
(ZENIT News / Beirut, 09.24.2024).- Churches in Lebanon have opened their doors to those seeking refuge from the devastating impact of the ongoing attacks.
Although the airstrikes are targeting the Islamist militia Hezbollah, they are “affecting everyone”, according to Marielle Boutros, project coordinator at Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in Lebanon.
She said: “People are now living in church halls, so they will need food, sanitary products, mattresses, blankets – and if it continues, we will need heating for winter, though of course, we hope it will not last that long.”
She added that the charity is working with local Church partners to look at ways of helping the thousands who have become displaced since the bombardment began yesterday (Monday, 23rd September).
Ms Boutros said that “all south Lebanon is being targeted” – a region with a large Christian population – leading many residents to seek shelter in churches.
She added: “These are not purely Shia or Hezbollah areas, and we have a lot of Christian families living there.
“Some have lost their houses, and they are moving now from the south to other places in Beirut, Mount Lebanon and the north, to find safety.”
Ms Boutros explained that attacks have also taken place in parts of Beirut where Hezbollah has most of its support.
She added: “Beirut is not a big city, so if a part of Beirut is targeted, all Beirut will feel it, and all day people hear the sound of military aircraft or drones.”
She highlighted that the conflict may lead to yet another wave of Christians leaving Lebanon – an exodus which has been ongoing for decades – further diminishing the Christian influence in the region.
According to Firass Abiad, Lebanon’s Health Minister, at least 558 people were killed in Monday’s airstrikes, including 50 children.
Ms Boutros said ACN has supported more than 300 projects in the country – including emergency aid in response to the low-scale war in southern Lebanon since last October.
She added that the schools, which the charity has also been supporting, “are closed, but this is temporary, and they are now moving to online teaching”.
Ms Boutros concluded by requesting ACN’s friends and benefactors to pray for peace “to finally come to Lebanon and the entire region, and for a just end to the current conflict”.
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