Christian religious leaders in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre have called for urgent international action to prevent an attack on the city’s Christian quarter after the Israeli military issued evacuation warnings covering the coastal area.
In a joint statement on Tuesday, senior church leaders appealed to the international community and Lebanese authorities to intervene amid growing fears that military operations could expand into parts of the city that have so far avoided direct attacks.
The appeal was signed by Archbishop George Iskandar of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Archbishop Elias Kfoury of the Greek Orthodox Church of Tyre and Sidon, and Maronite Archbishop Charbel Abdullah.
Their statement came after Israeli evacuation warnings prompted hundreds of residents to flee the Christian quarter, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.
Civil defence teams were deployed to assist elderly residents and facilitate evacuations to what authorities described as safer areas.
The warning followed a series of attacks on nearby neighbourhoods that Lebanese officials said killed eight people and wounded dozens of others.
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Scenes of displacement unfolded across the city as residents loaded vehicles with mattresses, luggage and household belongings before joining long lines of traffic along the coastal highway.
Witnesses described severe congestion as families attempted to leave the area.
“After the warnings in Tyre, we left,” resident Ali Bahr said while travelling with his wife and three children.
“We packed our things and left.”
Asked where his family would go, Bahr said uncertainty remained.
“Where would we go? There’s nowhere to go. We’d end up on the street. We’re heading to Sidon.”
Tyre, a historic Mediterranean city in southern Lebanon with significant Muslim and Christian communities, has become the latest focus of concern amid escalating hostilities along the Lebanese-Israeli front and growing fears of a wider humanitarian crisis.
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