Lebanon: 'Missiles are flying over our heads'

Wooden cross tangled next to electric wires in Bourj Hammoud, Beirut © ACN

Source: Aid to the Church in Need

Nearly 30,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon as air strikes hit the country's capital.

A wave of overnight missiles hit Beirut last night, shattering the fragile ceasefire with Israel that had held in recent months.

According to local staff of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in Lebanon, more than ten airstrikes struck the city's southern suburbs at around 2.30am local time, forcing thousands to flee.

Explosions were heard far beyond the capital, including in the Keserwan region with targeted strikes also felt in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley.

In the southern port city of Saida, Melkite Greek-Catholic Bishop Elie Haddad told ACN: "Missiles are flying over our heads."

Saida had not been directly hit, so state schools have opened to shelter displaced families, and parish centres have begun receiving those fleeing the bombardments.

The Middle East has been thrown into turmoil after strikes by the US and Israel hit Iran on Sunday, 2nd March, killing the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Following months of near-daily Israeli strikes on Lebanon, tensions escalated after Iran-backed Hezbollah claimed responsibility for rocket and drone attacks on Haifa in northern Israel, effectively ending the fragile ceasefire in place since November 2024.

ACN staff said warnings were sent to around 50 villages, driving thousands of families onto the roads. Highways out of southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut were quickly overwhelmed and families remained trapped in traffic for hours.

Melkite Bishop Georges Iskandar of Tyre told ACN that around 800 Christian families within his diocese may soon require assistance if the violence continues to escalate.

Describing the human toll of the renewed violence, he said: "People are exhausted; they fear for their children and their future; they yearn for a simple and ordinary life - that a child may go to school without fear, that an elderly person may sleep peacefully in his home, that a father and mother may work for their daily bread in dignity.

"As the shepherd of this local Church, my foremost concern is to remain close to these innocent people: to be present among them, to listen to their suffering, to pray with them, and to remind them that their dignity is safeguarded in the sight of God, and that Christian hope is not built upon balances of power but upon faith in the Lord of history, who wills peace for His people."

Maronite Bishop Charbel Abdallah, also of Tyre, said while many residents of Tyre city are remaining in their homes for now, Christians from border villages have begun evacuating.

He added: "They are our people."

In the Beqaa Valley Maronite Bishop Hanna Rahme of Baalbek-Deir El Ahmar said that Muslim and Christian families from Baalbek are seeking refuge in Deir El Ahmar - many of them are the same families that sheltered there during the previous conflict.

State schools have reopened to host displaced families and St Nohra Church is also providing shelter.

Despite extremely limited means, Bishop Rahme insisted the Church will not abandon those in need: "They are our people; we will take care of them with what we have."

In Zboud around 100 people have taken refuge at a school run by the Sisters of the Good Service. Their buildings have now reached full capacity. Sister Jocelyne Joumaa warned: "We are safe for now, but certainly it will be our turn soon."

The Lebanese government has opened public shelters and emergency hotlines while the situation remains highly volatile.

Several dioceses indicated to ACN that if the escalation continues, they may be forced to seek international assistance to provide food, emergency kits and basic support to displaced families

With thanks to Fouad Sfeir & Maria Lozano

LINK

Aid to the Church in Need: https://acnuk.org