'The situation is catastrophic,' Lebanese Catholic charity workers say

(OSV News) -- As Lebanon plunged into the worst humanitarian crisis in decades, Catholics and other Christians continue their humanitarian outreach to help struggling Lebanese, Syrian refugees and migrant workers displaced by severe Israeli bombardments across the country, ongoing since late September, some of which have also injured Christians.

Catholic aid agencies and the United Nations warn that Lebanon is experiencing a major displacement crisis as some 1.2 million have fled their homes due to fighting between Israel and the country's Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.

The pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need, Ireland branch, confirmed Oct. 10 that an Oct. 9 Israeli air strike on two church halls housing refugees in Derdghaya killed at least eight people, leaving the parish office and church destroyed.

The exchange of fire from both sides of the border has also displaced 60,000 Israelis. Israel is now carrying out a ground offensive in south and southwest Lebanon.

Hezbollah, once considered Iran's security bulwark, has been weakened by sustained Israeli bombardments and targeted assassinations of its military leaders, most notably Hassan Nasrallah, its chief since 1992. On the first anniversary of Hezbollah's involvement in the Israel-Hamas war, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the Lebanese to get rid of Hezbollah and avoid "destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza."

Large numbers of the displaced are sleeping on the streets of the capital, Beirut, fearful of being trapped in collapsing buildings from the bombings, while others have no place else to go because shelters are packed to capacity. Others, who can, have fled to mountain villages.

"The situation is really catastrophic," Andrea Avveduto, communications chief for Pro Terra Sancta, said. Pro Terra Sancta, based in Jerusalem and Milan, Italy, supports the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land aiding Christian communities in the Middle East.

"Initially we provided food and basic supplies to people in the south when our centers and convents there had opened their doors to those fleeing for safety," he told OSV News.

"But with the increase in military activity, people escaped to Beirut and now we are providing more than 300 families with everything: shelter, blankets, beds, food and necessities to live and sleep because they are homeless."

Avveduto explained that these families face livelihood hardship because normally at this time of the year they harvest olives for production and depend on this income to sustain themselves.

"Children and others are also suffering from the effects of the war. People are reminded of the civil war," he said of the 1975-1990 sectarian conflict. It saw 150,000 die and led to the exodus of almost 1 million people from Lebanon. "But we have also seen Christians and Muslims helping each other and this is a good sign of hope," Avveduto said.

"We are concerned because we also have to think about if the conflict is prolonged," Avveduto warned. "This is an emergency, but if it continues for months, we have to reorganize everything about how to provide help in that period."

Lebanon's health care system, already crippled by years of economic crisis, has been brought to the brink of collapse with this conflict, the U.N. and government officials say.

"Caritas Lebanon is on the ground offering health, social protection, and has doctors going to the shelters," Mazen Moussawer told the BBC. The group is part of the worldwide Caritas Internationalis charity network of the Catholic Church.

"We provide medicine and medications that are badly needed right now for people who left their homes with absolutely nothing, but the clothes on their backs."

Moussawer said more than 1,000 youth volunteers are also aiding women and children suffering from trauma with psycho-social support activities.

"Our medical mobile clinic is going to regions that are far removed for people who cannot leave their houses," Moussawer said. But he added that the greatest need is providing food for the many homeless. And with winter soon approaching, he said, people need blankets and other supplies as temperatures dip.

"Caritas Lebanon is using everything it has right now. We are spread thin on all levels, but we are here and are standing with the Lebanese people," Moussawer said.

A catastrophic economic crisis seeing the value of Lebanon's currency plummet by 90% and failure by its bickering political factions to agree on a president over the past two years have compounded the country's woes.

"Our political leaders must set aside their differences," Lebanese Cardinal Bechara Rai, patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church, said Oct. 6, to "put aside divergences and work towards electing a president who has both internal and external trust."

Early after the Gaza war erupted, Cardinal Rai condemned attempts by Hezbollah to link Lebanon's unresolved land border with Israel to the war in Gaza, fearing Lebanon would be dragged into conflict.

Hezbollah has been a powerful force in Lebanon dictating not just the country's security but its politics as it also has elected members to parliament.

Meanwhile, entire cities in southern Lebanon have been depopulated amid the Israeli invasion. The U.N.'s World Food Program said most residents of the southern coastal city of Tyre -- once home to 200,000 people -- have now been displaced.

Yet not everyone has fled the Israeli airstrikes pummeling the south. According to the pontifical charity ACN, some "9,000 Christians have remained in three villages just five kilometers (three miles) from the border with Israel."

"There's no hospital, and they only have three hours of electricity a day -- meaning no internet and no water," the organization reported.

More than 2,100 people have now been killed in Lebanon and about 10,000 wounded since the war started in October 2023, according to Lebanon's Ministry of Health. Most of the deaths and injuries took place over the last three weeks, when Israel stepped up its offensive against Hezbollah, it said.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Beirut told OSV News that Father Gregorious Saloum, priest of St. George's Greek Orthodox Parish in south Lebanon, is recovering in a Beirut hospital as a result of serious injuries sustained from an Israeli airstrike. His family members were also reportedly wounded in the attack.