In the small town of Marjayoun in Lebanon, located about eight kilometers north of the Israeli border, the main square appears almost abandoned. A billiard game piece resonates in a store decorated with life-size statues of the Virgin Mary and Saint Charbel, a venerated Lebanese saint. Residents seem to avoid journalists and sensitive topics of discussion that revolve around the conflicts and threats of war hanging over this predominantly Christian city.
Tension between Israel and Lebanon has intensified since the Hamas attack on October 7 and the resulting military campaign in Gaza. The Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah has launched missiles, mortars and drones into Israel, drawing retaliation from the Israeli military. Tens of thousands of people on both sides of the mountainous border have fled, fearing a devastating new war.
In Lebanon’s Shiite-majority towns like Kafr Kila, Adaisa, Aita Al-Shaab and Aitaroun, most residents have left the area. Frequent bombings by the Israeli army have reduced many of these communities to rubble. Marjayoun, by comparison, was spared the destruction.
This city was the headquarters of the South Lebanon Army (SLA), a Christian militia financed and armed by Israel, during the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon, which ended 24 years ago after a war of prolonged guerrilla war with Hezbollah. During Israel’s withdrawal in 2000, many residents of Marjayoun fled to Israel for fear of being accused of collaboration with the enemy.
Lebanon’s collapsed economy, fear of renewed conflict, lack of a functioning state, and emigration have drained Marjayoun of its people and prosperity. However, some residents resist and hold on to their ancestral town despite the threats that loom.
In Hasbaya, a predominantly Druze town half an hour away, an 85-year-old man, Abu Nabil, sweeps the street in front of his shop. Despite the upheavals in Lebanon’s history that he has experienced, from independence to the civil war, from the Israeli occupation to the current economic crisis, he maintains an optimism tinged with wisdom. “War is ruinous, in war, everyone loses, even the winner,” he expresses with a benevolent smile.
This atmosphere of tension and resilience tinged with hope and fatalism permeates the streets of Marjayoun and Hasbaya. The inhabitants, between their deep attachment to their land and their fear of imminent conflicts, oscillate between the desire to stay and the need to leave to survive..
It is clear that peace is everyone’s aspiration, but in this troubled corner of the world, where the clouds of war constantly threaten the horizon, the future remains uncertain and the local community continues to live in tense waiting, looking for a glimmer of hope in the darkness of the conflicts that surround them.