“We Are Staying”: Christian Border Villages in South Lebanon Reject the War Around Them

South Lebanon — Along Lebanon’s southern frontier, where cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel have reshaped daily life for months, residents of several Christian-majority villages are making a deliberate and coordinated choice: they are staying. In towns such as Rmeish, Debel, Qlayaa, Ain Ebel, and Marjayoun, local clergy, municipal officials, and families say they do not consider themselves parties to the conflict unfolding around them. Instead, they describe their presence as an act of continuity, stability, and protection of a historic social landscape they believe must not disappear under the pressure of regional confrontation.

Across these communities, residents repeatedly stress that the war is not theirs. They say they neither initiated nor support military activity from their villages and are determined to prevent their towns from being drawn into a confrontation they see as external to their interests and identity. For many, remaining in place has become a form of civilian resistance to displacement and to the transformation of South Lebanon into a permanent military arena.

In the border town of Rmeish, parish priest Father Tony Elias expressed this position in language that reflects a broader regional sentiment. “We will remain until the end,” he said. “In the South, almost no one is left except us in these few Christian villages. As long as we are here, this land will remain Lebanese. We resist with our living bodies, and our weapon is prayer. If we leave, South Lebanon will disappear, and the efforts of our ancestors who built these villages on blessed land will be lost.” His remarks capture how residents increasingly view their continued presence not simply as a personal decision but as a collective responsibility tied to the preservation of the region’s pluralistic identity.

Local officials describe a similar determination even as living conditions deteriorate. In Debel, Mayor Akl Naddef warned that the pressures on civilians are intensifying. “We can no longer secure even the most basic needs of the people,” he said. “The clinic has run out of medicine, and we are appealing to the authorities and to anyone who can help.” He added that attempts to obtain permission for safe movement outside the village have produced no results despite appeals to multiple institutions, including the Lebanese Army and the Apostolic Nunciature. His statement reflects a broader reality across the Christian border villages, where residents continue to remain despite growing shortages and restricted mobility.

Church leaders in Debel have also raised concerns about the safety of civilians moving between neighboring communities. Father Fadi Felfeli, parish priest of the town, issued an appeal to international actors working for peace to ensure protection for residents traveling along what has become an informal humanitarian corridor linking Christian villages near the border. “Unfortunately, innocent people are paying the price of the war,” he said, emphasizing the vulnerability of civilians navigating an increasingly unstable security environment.

Residents across several villages say they have taken steps to prevent armed activity from taking place inside or near their communities, fearing that any military presence would expose them to immediate retaliatory strikes. According to local testimonies, civilians have objected to attempts by Hezbollah fighters to operate in proximity to residential areas, arguing that such activity risks drawing their towns directly into the conflict. Community leaders describe these efforts as defensive measures aimed at keeping the war outside civilian spaces rather than political confrontation with any particular actor.

At the same time, calls for a stronger presence by the Lebanese Armed Forces have become a consistent theme in statements from municipal officials and clergy. Residents say the deployment of state forces inside their villages would provide the only credible guarantee that armed groups will not operate from civilian areas and that the boundary between military confrontation and community life can be preserved. Without such deployment, they warn, their towns remain vulnerable to escalation beyond their control.

Municipal leaders in both Rmeish and Qlayaa have confirmed in public statements that large numbers of residents have chosen not to leave despite the risks associated with remaining close to the frontier. For many families, departure is not viewed as a temporary safety measure but as a step that could permanently alter the demographic and social balance of the region. Residents frequently describe their presence as essential to maintaining the historical character of South Lebanon as a space shared by multiple religious communities rather than defined by a single political or military authority.

Taken together, statements from clergy, mayors, and local officials across these villages form a consistent message directed both to the Lebanese state and to the international community. Residents insist that they are civilians who do not consider themselves participants in the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel and who are actively attempting to prevent the war from entering their towns. They are calling for protection, stability, and recognition of their right to remain on their land without becoming part of a wider regional confrontation.

For many in these communities, staying is not simply a reaction to war but a long-term position about the future of the border region itself. They believe South Lebanon should not remain defined as a permanent frontline and argue that preserving its remaining pluralism depends on the continued presence of the villages that have historically formed part of its social fabric. As Father Tony Elias suggested in his remarks from Rmeish, leaving would not only mean displacement. It would mean the disappearance of a historic presence that residents consider inseparable from the identity of the South.