The Christian villages on the frontline of Israel’s war on Lebanon

NewsWorldMiddle EastIndependent ArabiaThe Christian villages on the frontline of Israel’s war on LebanonKamel Jaber reports from the south where Christian residents are refusing to leave as Israel seeks to empty villages of their inhabitantsSunday 03 May 2026 08:17 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2945518","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/lebanon-ain-ebel-pierre-alrai-maronite-b2945518.html","title":"The Christian villages on the frontlines of Israel’s war on Lebanon"},"popoverPlacementOverride":"bottom"}CloseIsrael expands invasion of southern LebanonOn The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly international news dispatchEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_On_The_Ground_Newsletter","regTitle":"On The Ground","subscriptionGroup":"on_the_ground","subscriptionGroupId":"14806361-6435-4d19-b06e-05326605fb01","pathPrefix":["/news/world/europe","/news/world/middle-east","/news/world/australasia","/news/world/africa","/asia"],"associatedAuthors":["Bel Trew","Sam Kiley"],"title":"On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","mobileTitle":"Get a weekly international news dispatch","lengthenedMobileTitle":"Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/onTheGround1_1.png","newsletterKey":"receiveOnTheGround","regSourceSection":"Middle East","regSourceMethod":"NSCs"}}This article first appeared on ou...