Piotr Kowalczuk, Federico Piana
“In the deserted Christian villages, the Israeli army is demolishing the last public buildings, schools, and private homes that survived the bombings and artillery fire of recent weeks with bulldozers and excavators,” warns Father Elias. “A few days ago, despite the alleged ceasefire, the Israeli army took control of the areas along the Litani River. Now no one is allowed to approach there.”
Situation in three Christian villages
According to the vicar, the residents of the three still inhabited, entirely Christian villages either did not want to or did not manage to escape. They found themselves in a trap with no way out. All roads are blocked. The Israeli army does not allow them to leave the villages. Water, baby milk, and fuel are starting to run out. There is also a lack of medicine for seriously ill people, for example, those with cancer or diabetes. Only ambulances and vehicles of the International Red Cross reach the Christian villages. They take seriously ill people, who would die without hospitalization and treatment, to hospitals in Beirut. Sometimes they also bring some food. Sometimes they manage to smuggle someone to Beirut, most often students or those who have jobs there. The residents of Rmeish have built a tunnel through which they can get out of the village, but it is very dangerous.
How much more can we endure?
Father Elias says that this is the question most often asked by 2,000 families from the Christian villages: “We trust in the Lord, we pray, we are patient. But we don’t know how long our supplies of rice or flour will last, how long the rainwater treatment devices will hold up. Above all, however, we ask how long we still have to wait for a true truce and ceasefire that will end in true peace.” Father Eliot is 43 years old and has already lived through four wars: “We want the authorities, including the Lebanese ones, to finally understand that the time for using weapons is over.”
Muslims also suffer
Father Elias points out that the war also severely affects Muslims. “After the truce was announced, many Shiites who had left their villages and towns in southern Lebanon decided to return to their homes, families, and friends in southern Lebanon. When they returned, they found that no one lived there anymore. Huge areas, the size of several hundred football fields, had turned into a desert, and entire districts, like Ayta Al Chaab, were razed to the ground by bombs and bulldozers.”
Appeal to Hezbollah
Father Elias concluded the conversation by appealing to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah armed groups: “Lay down your arms! Let the Lebanese army take control. Now almost all villages in southern Lebanon are destroyed. This is what your weapons served! I repeat: the time for dialogue and peace has come.”
