Lebanon (MNN) — Hezbollah and Israeli forces regularly exchange tit-for-tat rocket fire on Lebanon’s southern border. The latest clashes killed an Israeli farmer and a Reuters reporter.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says if Hezbollah wants a war, they’ll get it – and Israel will turn Beirut into another Gaza. The question is: does Lebanon want to go to war?
“Lebanon is struggling in many ways and on many fronts,” Heart for Lebanon’s Camille Melki says.
“We can no longer afford another war; we cannot afford more death, destruction.”
Hezbollah may be ready for war, but Melki says, “[The] people of Lebanon are more eager for times of tranquility and development, rather than rebuilding from wars.”
Over the past several years, Lebanon has endured COVID-19 shutdowns, a historic port explosion, and economic and government collapse. “If we enter another conflict, you can imagine the overwhelming additional needs that would create,” Melki says.
(Photo courtesy of Heart for Lebanon)
“Heart for Lebanon serves 3,200 families on any given month. Immediately after October 7, we added 500 new families. Multiplied by an average of six [people per family], over 22,000 individuals are cared for every month.”
Throughout every trial, God moves in incredible ways. Read Asaad’s story of transformation here.
The Gospel and hope of Christ accompany every provision of practical aid.
“We are providing aid to many hurting families, both on the local and the refugee level, [and] education for people in need,” Melki says.
“55,000 Lebanese have fled the villages and towns at the borders with Israel. That’s 55,000 new internally displaced individuals that need help.”
Pray the Lord will provide everything Heart for Lebanon needs to care for the vulnerable. You can send support here.
Pray that border tensions will calm and a war will not begin on Lebanese soil.
“The situation in Lebanon is so fragile that any conflict, like the one across our borders with Israel, [could] bring so much destruction to our nation. And we don’t have the infrastructure nor the will to be in war,” Melki says.
Header image depicts Hezbollah fighters marching in a 2018 ceremony. (Wikimedia Commons)
