In the heights of Harissa, thirty kilometres north of Beirut, the war raging in southern Lebanon seems far away. The threat of an extension of the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel has diminished, following a new escalation in August, but it leaves a bitter taste. “Palestine is a national cause that goes beyond Lebanon. Why open a front in Lebanon when other Arab countries do nothing?”asks Elie Naïm, 50, who came to pray at the Maronite Christian sanctuary of Notre-Dame du Liban on Sunday 1Ahem September.
The maintenance worker criticises the decision taken by Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite party, in October 2023 – following the Hamas attack on Israeli territory and the reprisals carried out by Israel in the Gaza Strip – to open a front to support Hamas, which has cost more than 600 deaths in Lebanon, including 132 civilians, according to a count by Agence France-Presse. “Hezbollah decides against our will because it has the weapons and is the strongest. All Christians in Lebanon are against the war and against Hezbollah, like half of Muslims elsewhere.Denise Marheb, a 60-year-old printing employee, is even more clear about this.
Since October 2023, Christian political leaders have echoed the discontent expressed within their community. By denouncing the faits accomplis imposed by Hezbollah, they fear that the Shiite party will take advantage of an ever-increasing role on the regional scene, alongside its Iranian godfather, to impose its dictate in Lebanon. They already accuse the Shiite party of prolonging the presidential vacuum for almost two years to elect its favourite for this post reserved for a Maronite Christian.
Christian “blanket”
“Who gave Hezbollah the right to unilaterally involve the whole of Lebanon in the war, without even consulting the government? And above all to the latter I say: but where are you? »Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea shouted from his stronghold in Meerab on Sunday. Defending the idea of a “Free, strong and independent state”As the sole decision-maker on war and peace, the Christian leader called for the immediate election of a president. “The most important thing is that Hezbollah does not make mistakes in its post-war calculations and does not impose anything from within”he warned.
The FL, the Christian party Kataëb and the Maronite Patriarch, Béchara Raï, are the main opponents of the war launched by Hezbollah against Israel. In June, the Patriarch advocated the implementation of UN resolutions, in particular 1559 passed in 2004, which calls for the disarmament of militias in Lebanon, which Hezbollah opposes. He had called for the election of a president to ensure that “Lebanon is no longer a launching pad for terrorist acts that undermine the security and stability of the region.”
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