EXCLUSIVE: Lebanese Christians Inside Hezbollah Territory Say They Want No War with Israel

Klayaa, South Lebanon – Israel and Hezbollah terrorists are teetering on the brink of full-scale war.

The border area between Israel and Lebanon sees almost daily rocket attacks and air strikes.  

While much of northern Israel is evacuated, Christians in south Lebanon brace for an unwanted conflict and worry about their future in the region. 

CBN News traveled inside Hezbollah territory for an up-close look at how believers are doing.

Since 1890 when St. George's Church opened its doors in the hills of south Lebanon, Christians have taken part in the Good Friday procession carrying a cross with a Jesus Christ statue through the town of Klayaa.

This year was no different.

"Our Christian ancestors here faced war and they never abandoned their land or their faith. They stood fast against all adversities, and we are going to do the same because that's the spirit we inherited from them," Father Pierre Al Rahi of St. George's Church, told CBN News.

Klayaa and more than a dozen other Christian villages sit near the border with Israel.

On October 8th, when Hezbollah started launching rockets at Israel in support of the Hamas attacks, Christians here suddenly found themselves caught in a conflict they didn't ask for or want.

"Just because one group decided to go to war with Israel, I'm almost one hundred percent sure that all of us are victims of other people's agendas, and we want no part in it," said Father Pierre.

Hezbollah, the Islamic terror group controlling much of south Lebanon, has fired more than 3,000 rockets at Israeli civilian and military targets from area hilltops and villages since the war began in Gaza. 

Al Khiam, a village adjacent to Klayaa, has felt multiple Israeli rocket and missile strikes during this time.

"El Khiam is one of Hezbollah's strongholds and that's the main reason Israel is targeting that town," said pastor Fouad Antoun with the National Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

Some 90,000 people from south Lebanon, mostly Christians, evacuated to the north after Hezbollah started launching their rockets.

Among those staying is Christian entrepreneur Georges Salameh. He was forced to close his carpentry business due to constant shelling.

"We thought the war would end in 10 or 15 days, but it has kept going on and on and most of the businesses in the village got affected and now because of this we have no income," Salameh told CBN News.

The big concern for Klayaa and other small Christian villages that dot the south Lebanon landscape is Hezbollah, which could potentially come into their communities and use their neighborhoods to launch missile attacks against Israel.

"What scares us the most is if Hezbollah starts firing recklessly, for example, last week, they fired missiles at Israel and most of their missiles didn't reach their targets and they fell short of hitting Lebanese towns, one of those missiles landed in the Christian village of Marjayoun," said Antoun.

Christians used to be the majority in the South, but not anymore. 

Their numbers have slowly dwindled since Hezbollah moved in.

"The situation for Christians, not only here in the south, but the whole country, has been dismal and there's no stability and because of this there's a lot of Christian migration, mostly from the south," said Lotfalah Daher with the Associated Press in south Lebanon.

Daher, a Christian, who's reported for more than 30 years, fears this latest crisis will spark an even larger exodus.

"Honestly, people here don't dream anymore," said Daher. "We had a lot of dreams when we were young. We had dreams of living in peace and comfort. We worked hard for it, but the years proved us wrong, and all our dreams have evaporated."

Father Pierre tells CBN News that despite being caught between Hezbollah and Israel, the Christians of south Lebanon will continue to preach a message of hope and peace.

"We are the peacemakers. Our Lord Jesus Christ asked us to pray for our enemies that's why we are not going to stop praying. Our God can remove this dark cloud and He's able to change and soften hearts and bring peace to our area," said Pierre.
 

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