(OSV News): War sweeping the Middle East, including Lebanon, has left innocent civilians, especially those seeking peace, to suffer most, said Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop Georges Iskandar of Tyre.
On March 2, Archbishop Iskandar recounted how midnight brought “the sound of intense airstrikes” by Israel, marking “an abrupt escalation that civilians did not anticipate.”
The archbishop observed, “What weighs most heavily upon the heart is that those paying the price are simple and peaceful people: families in their homes, children, the sick and the elderly—men and women who have no part in the calculations of greater conflicts and no responsibility for the forces that have brought about this violence.”
He added, “In a matter of moments, they found themselves at the centre of a storm they did not choose, armed only with fear and prayer.”
Just hours after the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February, leading to the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Hezbollah militants responded by firing missiles and drones at an Israeli outpost in Haifa.
Israel retaliated by striking southern Lebanon and ordering evacuations in the south and east, causing mass displacement.
What weighs most heavily upon the heart is that those paying the price are simple and peaceful people: families in their homes, children, the sick and the elderly…
Archbishop Iskandar
Archbishop Iskandar confirmed these “rapid Israeli warnings” came “within a very short timeframe,” adding, “Within minutes, the roads were overwhelmed with vehicles, and traffic came to a standstill for long hours. Families with children and elderly relatives were stranded on the roads, uncertain where to go, carrying only what they could gather in haste, leaving behind homes, memories and livelihoods.”
He lamented, “It was a painful sight: unarmed civilians fleeing danger, not because they are parties to a conflict, but because the geography in which they live suddenly became a theatre of confrontation.”
“Launching rockets from southern Lebanon is an irresponsible and suspicious act,” said Lebanese prime minister, Nawaf Salam as he condemned Hezbollah’s attack.
“It endangers Lebanon’s security and safety and provides Israel with pretexts to continue its aggressions against it,” he posted on X March 2.
Aid to the Church in Need [ACN] warned on March 2 that increased violence across the Middle East could have “catastrophic consequences for Christian communities throughout the region.”
“The Christian presence in the Middle East must not die out,” said Regina Lynch, ACN International’s executive president. “A new spiral of violence could push already fragile communities beyond the point of survival.”
In a matter of moments, they found themselves at the centre of a storm they did not choose, armed only with fear and prayer
Archbishop Iskandar
Lynch said that the already precarious situation for Christians in Iraq, Syria, Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon has been further exacerbated by the war.
“They want peace and are innocent, yet they repeatedly become victims of conflict,” Lynch said of Christians in southern Lebanon. “ACN teams on the ground report growing anxiety as thousands have already been displaced.”
Archbishop Iskandar said the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy in Tyre welcomed displaced Christian families, as the Church “is a home open to every suffering person.”
He added, “Priests, volunteers, and local community members organised whatever space and resources were available, striving to ensure that each arrival would feel welcomed as in his or her own home, and sustained by the prayer and charity of the ecclesial community.”
This “spontaneous solidarity,” he said, revealed the “true face of Lebanon” as “a people who stand beside the innocent who have suddenly found themselves exposed to fear and displacement.”
Without naming Hezbollah, the archbishop highlighted the government’s view that “the decision of war and peace rests exclusively in the hands of the state,” and any other party acts against the law and the will of Lebanese people, “who long for stability and peace.”
Archbishop Iskandar said ongoing conflict has imposed a severe ‘psychological and spiritual burden’ on Lebanese people, already ‘exhausted’ by war
Archbishop Iskandar said ongoing conflict has imposed a severe “psychological and spiritual burden” on Lebanese people, already “exhausted” by war.
“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 at home, that a father and mother may work for their daily bread in dignity,” he said. “This is a fundamental right of every innocent person, beyond the noise of arms and political calculations.”
Nevertheless, his priority remains being close to the innocent, “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.”
“I thank you again for your concern for the suffering and resilience of our people,” Archbishop Iskandar said. “And I humbly ask for your prayers, for the protection of the innocent, for the cessation of all violence, and for the gift of a just and lasting peace for our region and for Lebanon as a whole.”
