Christian leaders in Lebanon's Tyre call for urgent international action amid Israeli threat

Christian religious leaders in the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre have called for urgent international and Lebanese action to prevent Israel from attacking the city's historic Christian quarter. This plea comes after Israeli airstrikes on nearby settlements resulted in eight deaths and dozens of injuries, according to officials.

The Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for the port city, specifically including the Christian quarter, which had previously been spared from attacks, AP reported. The statement was signed by prominent religious figures: Georgios Iskandar, Melkite Greek Catholic Metropolitan of Tyre; Elias Kfoury, Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Tyre, Sidon, and Dependencies; and Charbel Abdallah, Maronite Archbishop of Tyre.

Hundreds of people have already fled the Christian quarter on the Mediterranean coast following the Israeli warning. Civil defense personnel assisted in evacuating the elderly to safer areas, as reported by the state National News Agency. Images showed columns of cars loaded with mattresses, luggage, and household items stretching for miles along the Lebanese coastal highway as residents left Tyre.

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urgent and serious measures to spare the old part of Tyre from destruction and human tragedy.

In a Tuesday airstrike on another settlement in Tyre, eight people were killed and 32 injured, according to the Ministry of Health. The Christian leaders urged the international community and Lebanese officials to "take urgent and serious measures to spare the old part of Tyre from destruction and human tragedy."

The Israeli warning to Tyre followed an exchange of fire between Israel and Iran after an Israeli attack on Hezbollah in Beirut on Sunday. This has heightened tensions in the Middle East and intensified fears of a wider conflict. Tyre, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the world's oldest metropolitan cities, holds significant archaeological sites and rich cultural, religious, and civilizational heritage. The leaders warned that any targeting or destruction of this area would constitute a "humanitarian and national catastrophe with irreversible consequences."

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This is a war against all of Lebanon, not just against a specific group in Lebanon.