Dozens of worshippers gathered on a sunlit stretch of land in Qlayaa village, southern Lebanon, on Wednesday to commemorate a Christian priest who was killed by Israeli fireplace two days in the past.
Pallbearers carried a pristine white coffin carrying Father Pierre Al-Raai by way of the streets of Qlayaa, footage aired by the native Christian broadcaster, Noursat Community, confirmed. Close by, parishioners dabbed their tears at his funeral procession exterior Saint George’s church.
Father Al-Raai was one in every of 634 individuals who have been killed by Israel’s assault in Lebanon, in response to Lebanon’s Catastrophe Threat Administration Unit. The assault has introduced mass displacement from Lebanon’s capital Beirut to villages on its southern border with Israel. Regional hostilities have pressured 49 main well being care facilities and 5 hospitals to shut, the UN’s World Well being Group reported Wednesday.
Now, Israeli assaults on the fringes of Lebanon have drawn a handful of Christian communities into the violence. On Wednesday, the Israeli army issued a wave of latest evacuation requires six new villages within the south.
Pope Leo XIV mourned “civilian victims” together with “many harmless kids” as he paid tribute to the Lebanese priest on Wednesday.
“I’m near all of the Lebanese folks at this second of grave trial,” Pope Leo mentioned in an announcement.
“Father Pierre was a real shepherd who at all times remained beside his folks with the love and sacrifice of Jesus the Good Shepherd,” the Pope added. “Might the Lord grant that the blood he shed could also be a seed of peace for beloved Lebanon.”
A Crimson Cross paramedic who was killed by an Israeli strike whereas serving to injured survivors from a separate assault in southern Tyre district was additionally buried on Wednesday.
