Lebanese Christian villages reject Netanyahu’s annexation claim in plea for state’s return
BEIRUT: Christian leaders in southern Lebanon have firmly rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that some border villages sought annexation by Israel, dismissing the remarks as an attempt to pressure the Lebanese authorities into disarming Hezbollah.
Communities from about 13 Christian-majority border villages insisted their futures lie solely with the Lebanese state, while warning that years of conflict have left their communities trapped between Israeli military operations and Hezbollah’s armed presence.
“For three years now, we have been suffering because the Lebanese state failed to extend its sovereignty over its own land,” Gaby Al-Hajj, a civil activist from the town of Rmeish, told Arab News.
“That left us at the mercy of illegal weapons, and we are paying for it now. The Israelis have us under siege — yet we refused to leave our villages. We have not turned our backs on Lebanon and we will not. We have held on, regardless of the cost.”
