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New outrage after Israel demolishes convent in Yaroun, southern Lebanon

“They destroy homes and places of worship, and no one stops them,” lamented the parish priest of the village.

L’OLJ / 3 May 2026, https://today.lorientlejour.com/article/1505569/new-outrage-after-israel-demolishes-convent-in-yaroun-southern-lebanon.html

Two weeks after the uproar over the desecration of a statue of Jesus Christ in a village in southern Lebanon, Israeli forces demolished a convent in Yaroun (Bint Jbeil district) on Friday, sparking a new wave of international indignation.

“Let American Christians speak up!!! America can’t stay silent and must stop funding Israel to commit such atrocities!!!” wrote former U.S. lawmaker and far-right figure Marjorie Taylor Greene on Saturday, sharing a post showing the extent of the destruction suffered by the convent and the Sisters of the Holy Savior school.

“The Israeli army razed the convent and the Sisters of the Holy Savior school in Yaroun, Lebanon, yesterday. By what right? What does this have to do with disarming Hezbollah? Israel, wake up—your leaders have lost their way,” responded European Parliament member Nathalie Loiseau, former French minister and a member of President Emmanuel Macron’s allied Horizons party.

According to information obtained on Friday by our correspondent in southern Lebanon from Father Charbel Naddaf, priest of the Yaroun parish, the Israelis did indeed carry out the demolition of the convent and its associated school on Friday, denouncing “a flagrant violation of international law.

According to information obtained on Friday by our correspondent in southern Lebanon from Father Charbel Naddaf, priest of the Yaroun parish, the Israelis did indeed carry out the demolition of the convent and its associated school on Friday, denouncing “a flagrant violation of international law.”

Father Naddaf believes that Tel Aviv’s goal is to “empty the area of its inhabitants and prevent their return,” something the Israeli army manages to accomplish “in the absence of any deterrent.” “They destroy houses and places of worship, and no one stops them,” he lamented, calling on Lebanese authorities and the international community to intervene.

“Violation of all human values”

An Israeli soldier had already caused an international outcry by vandalizing a statue of Jesus Christ in the Christian village of Debel, forcing the Israeli government to announce sanctions against the soldiers involved in this desecration, under the weight of public outcry.

During the previous Israeli ground offensive in southern Lebanon launched during the autumn 2024 war, Israeli soldiers filmed themselves desecrating a monastery in Deir Mimas (Marjeyoun), as well as a statue of Saint George in Yaroun. Several places of worship, including mosques and churches, had already been affected by Israeli bombings, including the same monastery in Yaroun, which was badly damaged.

In response to yet another such incident, the Metropolitan of Zahlé and the Bekaa of the Melkite Greek Catholics, Ibrahim Mikail Ibrahim, condemned in a statement the “crime of destruction” that targeted the monastery and the Sisters of the Holy Savior school, saying that “what happened is not a mere passing aggression, but a blatant and unacceptable violation of all human values and international law, as well as a direct attack on the educational and spiritual mission of the Church.”

Metropolitan Ibrahim stated that “the destruction of this religious and educational place constitutes an aggravated crime against humanity and the land, and respects neither the sanctity of holy places nor that of scientific institutions,” emphasizing that targeting a monastery and a school is tantamount to attacking “childhood, knowledge, and the hope for a better future.” “I call on the international community to assume its responsibilities and not content itself with timid positions that do not measure up to the seriousness of the tragedy,” he insisted.

The “buffer zone” that Israel wants to establish in southern Lebanon stretches as far as eight to ten kilometers from the Blue Line and encompasses dozens of villages, most of which are occupied and where all homes and other civilian buildings are systematically destroyed. In addition to this invasion, the Israeli army continues to bomb, despite the existing truce, villages and towns in the south of the country.

May 5, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Israel, Religion and ethics