Christian leaders in Lebanese city of Tyre call for quick international action after Israeli warning

SIDON, Lebanon (AP) — Christian religious leaders in Lebanon’s southern port city of Tire called on the international community and Lebanese authorities on Tuesday to act quickly to prevent Israel from attacking the city’s Christian section, while eight people were killed and dozens more injured in airstrikes on nearby neighborhoods.

The Israeli army has issued an evacuation warning for the port city, including the Christian quarter that has been protected so far.

The statement of Christian leaders came from George Iskandar, metropolitan archbishop of Tire of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church; Elias Kfoury, Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Tire, Sidon and Dependent Regions; and Charbel Abdullah, archbishop of the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Tire.

The state-run National News Agency said the Israeli army’s warning caused hundreds of people to flee the Christian enclave on the Mediterranean coast, while Civil Defense members evacuated the elderly to safer areas.

Cars full of mattresses, luggage and household goods stretched for kilometers along Lebanon’s coastal road as residents fled Tire following Israel’s latest warning. Traffic came to a standstill as families piled whatever they could into cars, with carpets hanging from the roofs and luggage left partially open to accommodate furniture and personal belongings.

Ali Bahar, who was traveling in a vehicle loaded with goods with his wife and 3 children, said, “We set out after the warnings in Tire. We took it and set off.”

Bahar said, “Where should we go? There is nowhere to go.” “We will end up on the streets. We are going to Sidon.”

Nearby, Hüseyin Derviş got stuck in a dead end after filling his vehicle with what he could carry.

“We left to be safe and secure,” he said.

According to the Ministry of Health, eight people were killed and 32 people were injured in an Israeli airstrike on another neighborhood of Tire on Tuesday.

The three Christian leaders called on the international community and Lebanese leaders to “take immediate and serious steps to protect the old neighborhood of Tire from destruction and human tragedies.”

Israel’s warning to Tire came after Israel and Iran opened fire on each other. Targeting Hezbollah The incident in Beirut on Sunday triggered rising tensions in the Middle East and fears that the conflict could spread further.

Over the past few weeks, Israeli air strikes have caused major destruction in Tire, the country’s fourth largest city. country.

Tire, considered one of the oldest metropolises in the world, has many archaeological sites, some of which are under water. The city was officially declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.

In their statement, the clergy said, “The old city is not just a residential area.” “This is the historical and humanitarian heart of Tire, which hosts thousands of civilians, including families, children and the elderly.”

They stated that the old neighborhood also has a rich cultural, religious and civilization heritage dating back centuries.

“Any targeting or destruction of this neighborhood would constitute a humanitarian and national disaster with irreversible consequences,” he warned.

Kfoury said the ongoing conflict is not just a war against Hezbollah.

“The war is not against a particular group within Lebanon, but against all of Lebanon,” he said.

“They are destroying Lebanon. Period,” Kfoury said regarding the ongoing Israel-Hezbollah war. March 2 Two days after the United States and Iran began attacking Iran on February 28, when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel.

He said the fighting must stop because it was a “destructive war.”

Last week, Israel warned Christian neighborhoods in Tire that there were Hezbollah members among them. Over the last two weeks, large numbers of Lebanese Shiite Muslims have fled to these areas as they escaped aerial bombardment on the Mediterranean coast.

Following the warning made last week, the Lebanese army deployed to the Christian region of Tire in order to prevent Israeli attacks and show that Hezbollah had no armed presence in the region.

On Tuesday, the Israeli army’s Arabic-speaking spokesman said: Avichay AdraeeHe shared in

Adraee said any building used by Hezbollah for military purposes “may be subject to targeting.”

The last Israeli-Hezbollah strike killed nearly 3,500 people in Lebanon. More than 1.2 million people were displaced.

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Bassem Mroue reported from Beirut.