SIDON, Lebanon (AP) — Three Christian religious leaders from the historic Lebanese port city of Tyre issued an urgent appeal Tuesday, asking world leaders and Lebanese government officials to take swift action to protect the city’s Christian quarter from potential Israeli military strikes. Their plea came as aerial bombardments in surrounding areas resulted in eight deaths and dozens of injuries.
Israeli forces have issued evacuation orders for the entire port city, including the Christian neighborhood that had previously been untouched by the conflict.
The appeal came from George Iskandar, the metropolitan archbishop of Tyre for the Melkite Greek Catholic Church; Elias Kfoury, the Greek Orthodox metropolitan of Tyre, Sidon and Dependencies; and Charbel Abdullah, the archeparch of the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Tyre.
Following Israel’s military warning, hundreds of residents began evacuating the Christian area along the Mediterranean coastline, with Civil Defense teams helping elderly residents reach secure locations, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.
Long lines of vehicles loaded with mattresses, suitcases and household items stretched for kilometers on Lebanon’s coastal roadway as Tyre residents responded to the newest Israeli evacuation order. Traffic came to a standstill as families stuffed whatever belongings they could into their cars, with rugs hanging from rooftops and trunks left open to fit furniture and personal items.
“After the warnings in Tyre, we left. We picked up and left,” said Ali Bahar, who was traveling with his wife and three children in a car loaded with possessions.
“Where should we go? There is nowhere to go,” Bahar said. “We will end up in the streets. We are heading to Sidon.”
Not far away, Hussein Darwish sat in the traffic jam after loading his car with whatever he could take.
“We left to be reassured and safe,” he said.
A separate Israeli airstrike Tuesday in another Tyre neighborhood resulted in eight fatalities and left 32 people injured, the Health Ministry reported.
The three religious leaders urged the international community and Lebanese authorities to “take immediate and serious action to spare the old quarter of Tyre from destruction and human tragedies.”
Israel’s warning to Tyre followed an exchange of attacks between Israel and Iran after Israel struck Hezbollah targets in Beirut on Sunday, escalating Middle East tensions and raising concerns about the conflict’s potential expansion.
During recent weeks, Israeli air attacks have caused extensive damage throughout Tyre, Lebanon’s fourth-largest urban center.
Recognized as among the world’s most ancient cities, Tyre contains numerous archaeological locations, including some underwater sites. UNESCO designated the city as a World Heritage Site in 1984.
“The old city is not merely a residential area,” the clergy stated. “It is the historical and human heart of Tyre, home to thousands of civilians, including families, children, and the elderly.”
They emphasized that the historic district contains valuable cultural, religious and civilizational heritage spanning centuries.
“Any targeting or destruction of this neighborhood would constitute a humanitarian and national catastrophe with irreversible consequences,” they warned.
Kfoury stated that the current conflict extends beyond just targeting Hezbollah.
“The war is against all of Lebanon, not just one particular group within Lebanon,” he said.
“They are destroying Lebanon. Period,” Kfoury said about the ongoing Israel-Hezbollah war that broke out on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israel, two days after the U.S. and Iran began attacking Iran on Feb. 28.
He called for an end to the fighting, describing it as a “destructive war.”
Last week, Israel alerted Christian neighborhoods in Tyre that Hezbollah members were operating among them. Many Lebanese Shiite Muslims had sought refuge in those areas during the past two weeks, as they had been spared from coastal aerial bombardments.
Following last week’s warning, Lebanese military forces moved into Tyre’s Christian district to try preventing Israeli attacks and demonstrate that Hezbollah maintains no armed presence there.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, wrote on X that since the military had warned days earlier about Hezbollah members operating within the Christian district, Israeli forces “will have to act against their terrorist activities in the neighborhood soon.”
Adraee stated that any structure used by Hezbollah for military operations “may be subject to targeting.”
The current Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon has resulted in approximately 3,500 deaths and forced more than 1.2 million people from their homes.
