Lebanese Christian village caught between Israel and Hezbollah as IDF issues warning

Rmeish, a Christian Lebanese village just two kilometers (1.2 miles) from the Israeli border, has found itself on the edge of the ongoing war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.

While the IDF recently urged residents of pro-Hezbollah Shiite villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate to avoid providing cover for militants, most Rmeish residents have stayed, as Israel has avoided targeting the Christian village. Nevertheless, the Israeli military warned the villagers not to endanger themselves by harboring Hezbollah operatives.

“We see you as friends and family. We do not want you to evacuate the area,” an Israeli military officer said in a recorded call to the residents. “But your presence there is conditional. If Hezbollah elements are among you, we will strike, and you will have to leave. The responsibility is yours.” the officer urged.

The IDF aims to prevent Hezbollah operatives from nearby towns like Bint Jbeil, Aitaroun, and Mays al-Jabal from seeking refuge in the Christian village, using local Christian residents as human shields.

“If anyone among them is connected to Hezbollah, you are responsible,” the IDF officer warned.

Rmeish’s municipal head, Hanna al-Amil, told the Lebanese news outlet Al-Modon on Tuesday that the village is hosting between 150 and 200 people from neighboring Shiite towns like Bint Jbeil and Aitaroun. Bint Jbeil was previously a major Hezbollah hub in southern Lebanon.

Following the Israeli military’s warning, village officials asked the Lebanese military for assistance in organizing transportation for the Shiites away from their village. Some 20 Shiite families have reportedly already been moved from the Christian village as of Tuesday.

“We are staying on our land and continuing our work as usual,” Rmeish official Hassan Said explained. “We need the state and the army to protect us."

The current situation is similar to the 2024 war when Hezbollah operatives fled from Shiite villages and towns, and tried to find refuge in their Christian neighboring villages like Rmeish. In October 2024, Saudi news outlet Asharq Al-Awsat described Rmeish as “caught between Israel and Hezbollah.”

“At that time, isolated from the outside world, they decided to remain in their village despite the war raging around them,” Asharq Al-Awsat reported.

Lebanon’s Christian minority is largely opposed to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah’s war against the Jewish state, accusing the terrorist militia of causing death and destruction in Lebanon.

In January 2024, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi condemned Hezbollah for embodying a “culture of death.”

“Allow me to say it loud and clear – not as an abandonment of national or Arab issues, but rather out of my honesty with myself – I refuse to make myself and my family members hostages, human shields, and sacrificial lambs for failed Lebanese policies, and for the culture of death that has brought nothing but imaginary victories and shameful defeats to our country,” al-Rahi stated at the time.

In August 2024, pro-Hezbollah political commentator Reda Saad threatened the Christian community by claiming that “the role of Christians in Lebanon has ended.”

“I want to address our Christian brethren in Lebanon,” Saad stressed. “They should be very careful, as this rhetoric lays the foundation for future hostility."

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with Rmeish officials just days before the latest Iran war began on Feb. 28.

“The steadfastness of the people of the south on their land gives the deepest and strongest meaning to belonging and identity,” Aoun stated.