NAQOURA, Lebanon: The last residents of a Christian village on Lebanon’s border with Israel fled the area on Tuesday, a UN source and an AFP correspondent said, after locals had for days defied an Israeli order to leave.
Fighting flared last week between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah as part of a wider regional war, prompting the Israeli military to warn people across swathes of southern Lebanon to flee.
But some residents in Christian towns and villages refused to join a mass exodus, with dozens in the Alma Al-Shaab area staying put despite the violence.
Fears spiked however after an Israeli strike at the weekend killed one resident.
On Tuesday, an AFP correspondent in the nearby Naqura area saw a convoy of vehicles transporting people who had left Alma Al-Shaab, including women, children and the elderly. Their cars were packed with belongings, some strapped to the roofs.
Vehicles from Lebanon’s United Nations peacekeeping force accompanied the convoy to a Lebanese army checkpoint further north, the correspondent said.
A source from the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) told AFP that more than 80 people had left and the village was now empty, saying they had been transported to areas outside the force’s operations.
UNIFIL had said on Monday that “at the request of the municipality” of Alma Al-Shaab, it was “ready to facilitate the safe movement of civilians who wish to leave.”
Last week, local mayor Shadi Sayah had told AFP that “it is our right to preserve and remain on our land.”
“We are pacifists... a danger to no one,” the mayor said.
The Israeli army announced last week its intention to establish a buffer zone in southern Lebanon, saying the goal was to protect residents of northern Israel from Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
The Lebanese army, which had maintained a post in Alma Al-Shaab, withdrew last Tuesday as Israeli forces started incursions into the country.
Many towns and villages along Lebanon’s border have been damaged or destroyed since October 2023, when hostilities erupted between Israel and Hezbollah over the Gaza war, but some predominantly Christian villages have gone relatively unscathed.
Farther east in the village of Qlayaa, a parish priest died on Monday of wounds sustained from Israeli tank fire, sparking anger and fear.
Qlayaa mayor Hanna Daher has urged Lebanese authorities to prevent any armed presence in or around the town, referring to Hezbollah.