Christian Villages in South Lebanon Caught in the Crossfire
Interviews with Locals amid the Fighting Between Israel and Hezbollah
Israeli military operations in south Lebanon are focused at the moment on capturing the Shia town of Bint Jbeil, which has symbolic importance for Hezbollah as a historic stronghold of ‘resistance’ against Israel given that Israel was unable to capture it during the 2006 war with Hezbollah. In contrast with the heavy fighting in Bint Jbeil, Israeli forces have not entered three Christian villages located just southwest of Bint Jbeil, but these villages effectively find themselves isolated and caught in the crossfire following the withdrawal of the Lebanese army. These villages are Rmeich, Ein Abel and Debl.
As the war continues in south Lebanon, there is much debate on the outside about issues such as normalisation of relations between Israel and Lebanon and disarmament of Hezbollah. Many residents of the three Christian villages are angry with Hezbollah because they see it as having dragged Lebanon into war although they may not express this sentiment openly amid their uncertainty about the political future for south Lebanon. Their foremost concern is simply for the region to be spared further war and find a lasting peace.
Below are two interviews (edited and condensed for clarity), the first with a resident of Rmeich conducted on 12 April regarding the situation in the village amid the war between Israel and Hezbollah. The second is an interview with a person from Ain Ebel, also conducted on 12 April and concerning the situation in that village.
(Interview with resident of Rmeich)
Q: Can you provide us with a picture of the situation in the locality in terms of availability of goods, electricity, water and fuel?