The China Mail - Lebanon's Christians mark Easter in solidarity with war-hit south

This year's celebrations were dedicated to "people in the south," said Jenny Yazbek al‑Jamal, as she left mass at a church in Beirut's northern suburb of Jdeideh.

With family living in the region, the 55-year-old said she feels like "one of them".

It is not only Christian villages suffering in this war added al-Jamal, who leads the parish choir.

"Muslim villages too... we stand with all the people of the south who were forced to flee their homes."

The church was packed on Sunday, with some worshippers left standing outside.

Around the altar, placards bearing the names of Christian villages in south Lebanon -- cut off from the rest of the country or under fire -- had been placed.

Hymn singers struggled to raise their voices above the roar of Israeli fighter jets flying low over Beirut and bombing the capital's southern suburbs.

"Even during our religious holidays, even on Good Friday, jets fly over us and break the sound barrier just to scare us," al-Jamal said.

- 'For peace' -

"This has to stop," said Marina Awad, another 55-year-old worshipper attending mass with her husband.

"It's truly very sad to know people had to abandon homes built over a lifetime, unsure if they will ever return."

Border villages are going through a severe crisis, added 65-year-old Dori Ghrayeb. "No food, no water, no bread, no medicine, and no medical care."

The Maronite Patriarchate expressed "deep disappointment" on Sunday over the cancellation for "security reasons" of a humanitarian convoy jointly set up by the Vatican's envoy to Lebanon.

The convoy had been due to visit the border village of Debl.

Several Christian villages near the frontier -- including Ain Ebel, Rmeich and Debl -- are caught between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Residents have refused Israeli calls to evacuate as troops advance in southern border areas. They insist this is not their war and say they feel abandoned after Lebanese troops withdrew from several border points.

The convoy, organised with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon and two Christian charities, was meant to deliver 40 tonnes of medicine and basic supplies to residents "cut off from the rest of the country", the Patriarchate said.

The two charities, Caritas‑Lebanon and L'Oeuvre d'Orient condemned the cancellation as a violation of international humanitarian law, particularly as it affected vulnerable civilians trapped in their villages.

"I am for peace; the war must stop so that we can sit at the same table," Ghrayeb said.

F.Brown--ThChM