interesting details and perspective
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza Strip, hostilities have spread north to these hills, where Lebanon-based Hezbollah fighters have
launched hundreds of missiles toward Israeli border communities, and Israeli forces have shelled targets to the north.
“This is happening every day,” said Shadi Khaloul, a Christian Aramaean activist, as he stands in a pastoral orchard in the northern Israeli town of Jish.
Aramaeans are a community of native Christians who trace their lineage to the time of Jesus. Khaloul has been instrumental in reviving spoken Aramaic, believed to be the
language of Jesus and one used in portions of the Bible.
For Maryam Younnes, the conflict is wrenchingly personal.
She was born in a small, rural Lebanese village called Debel. Her father was a commander in the Christian-dominated militia South Lebanon Army, which cooperated with the Israeli army during Israel’s 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon.
Many in Lebanon viewed members of the SLA as traitors and collaborators... When Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, the SLA collapsed and many members and their relatives fled to Israel.
In Israel, the Aramaean Christian minority is concentrated in the north, in isolated, rural communities that often do not have adequate shelters from rocket fire. About 3,000 South Lebanon Army soldiers and their families live in Israel, many of whom are Aramaean Christians as well.
“The fact that my family is on the other side of the border, it’s not easy, because I know that they will get hurt if a broader war will happen,” Younnes said. “The southern Lebanese never wanted this war .... And then when the war is over, we are the ones who pay the price.”
Younnes said the villagers in southern Lebanon — many of whom are Christians — have little choice when Hezbollah militants set up military infrastructure, including rocket launchers, on their property, which puts them at risk for retaliation from Israel.
Hezbollah “is just one mile from our homes, maybe two miles from our homes,” Khaloul said. “We don’t need another Oct. 7 to happen here.”