Christian Villages in South Lebanon: Security Alert
Faced with the pending withdrawal of the Lebanese Army from the south of the country, Christians who are attached to their land have expressed their concern with the future.
Four Christian municipalities in southern Lebanon – Alma Sha’b, Rmeich, Debel, and Aïn Ebel – expressed their “deep concern” regarding the beginning of the Lebanese Army’s withdrawal from a number of border localities, which could have “serious security repercussions”, in a statement published on 31 March 2026. The signatories are determined to remain on their land, “despite all circumstances”, and are appealing to the Lebanese state, specialised United Nations agencies, and international humanitarian organisations.
Father Maroun Youssef Ghafari, the parish priest of Alma Sha’b, spoke to pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need, confirming these grave fears and describing how his parishioners, displaced across the country, are striving to maintain hope while seeking to provide for their material and spiritual needs.
As the parish priest of Alma Sha’b, how do you react to the alert raised by the municipalities of Alma Sha’b, Rmeich, Debel, and Aïn Ebel?
The withdrawal leaves the way open to an unknown future and an extremely dangerous situation, especially since, until now, the Lebanese Army has been escorting aid convoys intended for these villages. Furthermore, Israeli officials declare daily that they will remain in Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed, and that they will destroy the front-line villages – yet the villages that are still inhabited are Christian ones, and their residents are peaceful. The people of Rmeich and Aïn Ebel are determined to stay on their land, even if they have to “eat the soil,” as the parish priest of Rmeich stated on television on 31 March.
Christians are attached to their land and to their state. Unfortunately, this attachment to the “land of the message” – this land visited by Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Apostles – seems to demand the gift of oneself and the witness of blood, as was the case for my brother Sami, as well as for Father Pierre Raï, the parish priest of Qlayaa. Three young Maronite Christians from Aïn Ebel were also killed by strikes on 12 March, and two other Christians from Debel, a father and his son, killed by gunfire on the road.
Where are you and your parishioners, and what is your daily life like?
All the inhabitants of the parish and the village were forced to leave Alma Sha’b on 10 March. They are scattered across the entire country. Only a small number of families have moved into accommodation centres. Together with our parish council, the municipality of Alma Sha’b, and the crisis cell, we have been able to locate everyone. We try to stay in contact with them and respond to their urgent needs, according to our very limited means. But God does not abandon His children. He who feeds the birds of the air and clothes the flowers of the field also takes care of us, His children, through His providence.
Personally, I am in Aaraya, east of Beirut. However, after losing my brother before my very eyes, I am trying to gather my strength on every level. I am a priest and a servant of the community entrusted to me, but I am also a human being: I rejoice with those who rejoice and I weep with those who weep. Today, as we are in Passion Week, I repeat: “My soul is sorrowful,” echoing the words of the Lord Jesus in the Garden of Olives. Jesus himself wept before the tomb of his friend Lazarus, deeply moved… such is my state today.
On that note, how are your people experiencing the approach of Easter?
Since the 2023 war, I have taken the initiative of sending a meditation based on the Word of God over social media every morning. I am continuing this, placing the emphasis on the spiritual, social, and moral dimensions. Furthermore, we remain attentive to the needs of each individual: some hesitate to come forward, while others do so spontaneously.
Regarding Holy Week, we decided with the parish council that the faithful would participate in celebrations in the parishes where they currently reside. Last year, despite the destruction, the church in Alma Sha’b was full. This year, the gathering will be limited to Saturday evening in the church of Saint Anthony the Great in Jdeidé el-Metn, on the outskirts of the capital. Our situation resembles that of the faithful people in the Old Testament. It only remains for us to sing with the Psalmist: “How lovely are your dwellings, O Lord of hosts. My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord.”
What message do you have for the benefactors of ACN?
Thank you to ACN for the attention you are paying to the situation and to us as a displaced population. We all hold on to the hope that the cross we carry will become a bridge to a resurrection whose timing we do not know. But the resurrection will come. We have a witness to bear. Christ is risen; He is risen indeed.
