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Features|Israel-Palestine conflict

Amid Hezbollah-Israel clashes, Christian village in Lebanon plans for war

Located close to the border, the village has already suffered fallout from three weeks of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel amid the war in Gaza.

The Rmeich sign
Rmeich is one of about a dozen or more Christian villages near the border with Israel in southern Lebanon, a predominantly Shia Muslim area. [Zohra Bensemra/Reuters]
Published On 2 Nov 2023

At Lebanon’s border with Israel, residents of a Christian village are hoping war can be avoided even as they prepare for the possibility of worsening hostilities between the Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah and Israel.

Located just a couple of kilometres from the frontier, the village of Rmeich has already suffered fallout from three weeks of clashes along the border between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, the dominant force in southern Lebanon.

The village, along with the rest of Lebanon, is feeling the turbulence unleashed by the conflict raging some 200km (124 miles) away between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, an ally of the heavily armed Hezbollah.

Those who remain in Rmeich appear reluctant to discuss the politics of the crisis that has brought conflict to their doorstep, trying to preserve some normalcy in the village whose 18th-century church still holds a mass three times a day.

“I won’t say we’re feeling safe but the situation is stable,” village priest Toni Elias, 40, said as a military drone buzzed overhead.

“If we don’t hear the drone, we think something odd is going on. We’re used to it every day, 24/7,” Elias said.

A man carries bags of bread to sell, amidst tension between Israel and Hezbollah, in the Christian village of Rmeish, Lebanon.
A man carries bags of bread to sell in Rmeich. Business in the village has generally come to a halt amid the rising tensions, several locals said. [Zohra Bensemra/Reuters]
Toni Elias 40, the priest of the Christian village of Rmeish reads, amidst tension between Israel and Hezbollah, at Saint George church in the Southern village of Rmeish, Lebanon.
Priest Toni Elias, 40, said he was confident Rmeich would not be hit. 'As long we're here, living in the village. We don't want war, we're a peaceful village ... so the village remains safe if others flee to it.' [Zohra Bensemra/Reuters]
Milad Al Alam, Mayor of the Christian village of Rmeish speaks to journalists, amidst tension between Israel and Hezbollah in the Southern village of Rmeish, Lebanon.
Mayor Milad al-Alam said Rmeich has no shelter or official evacuation plan for its 4,500 remaining residents if war intensifies. 'People were stuck in the village for 17 days in 2006,' he said, referring to a previous war between Israel and Hezbollah. [Zohra Bensemra/Reuters]
Mary, 64, who said she fled her house and has taken refuge in Rmeich, amidst tension between Israel and Hezbollah, picks olives in the Christian village of Rmeish, Lebanon.
Half of Rmeich's residents have fled north since shells began crashing into hills nearby. With the olive harvest disrupted, their livelihoods have also been affected by the worsening violence. [Zohra Bensemra/Reuters]
Doctor Georges Madi, opens a box of medical supplies at the field hospital, set up by locals near the Lebanese-Israeli border to give first aid treatment to those potentially injured, amidst tension between Israel and Hezbollah at the Christian village of Rmeish, Lebanon.
As memories of the 2006 conflict loom large, Rmeich locals and charities have set up a makeshift hospital at a school, in case the clashes between Hezbollah and Israel - so far largely contained to areas at the border - get worse. [Zohra Bensemra/Reuters]
Doctor Georges Madi, inspects a box of medical supplies at the field hospital, set up by locals near the Lebanese-Israeli border to give first aid treatment to those potentially injured amidst tension between Israel and Hezbollah at the Christian village of Rmeish, Lebanon.
Doctor Georges Madi opens a box of medical supplies at a field hospital. [Zohra Bensemra/Reuters]
Children play at the Christian village of Rmeish, near the Lebanese-Israeli border amidst tension between Israel and Hezbollah Lebanon.
Children play in the village streets while tensions are weighing on the local economy, compounding hardship for people still suffering the effects of Lebanon's devastating financial collapse four years ago. [Zohra Bensemra/Reuters]
A girl plays at the Christian village of Rmeish, near the Lebanese-Israeli border, amidst tension between Israel and Hezbollah Lebanon.
During the 2006 war, some 25,000 people from surrounding towns sought shelter in Rmeich. [Zohra Bensemra/Reuters]