Pope mourns Lebanese priest reportedly killed by IDF while aiding wounded villagers

A Maronite parish in southern Lebanon lost its priest on Monday when Father Pierre al-Rai of Qlayaa succumbed to wounds sustained from Israeli tank fire, according to state media and a medical source, with his death mourned by Pope Leo.

The border village had not previously been caught up in the conflict between the Hezbollah terror group and Israel.

The National News Agency (NNA) reported that a house in the Christian town was “hit twice in succession by artillery shelling from a hostile Merkava tank” on Monday.

The first strike wounded the homeowner and his wife, according to NNA. After several neighbors, including Rai, and Red Cross paramedics rushed to the scene, the house was hit a second time, wounding Rai and three others.

The priest later died of his wounds, a medical source told AFP.

It was not clear why Israeli forces reportedly targeted the house, which is located on the outskirts of the town.

“Pope Leo XIV expresses profound sorrow for all the victims of the bombings in these days in the Middle East, for the many innocents, including many children, and for those who were helping them, such as Father Pierre al-Rai,” the Vatican said in a statement.

“He is following what is happening with concern and prays that every hostility may cease as soon as possible,” it added.

The priest was also mourned by the municipality for Metula, an Israeli community near the Lebanese border to which several families of veterans from the South Lebanon Army, a Christian militia backed by Israel, relocated following the IDF’s pullout from southern Lebanon in 2000.

“The Metula Local Council expresses its condolences and shares in the sorrow of our Christian residents, and wishes for quieter days, security and peace for our region,” it said in a statement.

Christian leader blames Hezbollah for ‘infiltrating’ village

The mayor of Qlayaa, Hanna Daher, called on the Lebanese army and state to “prevent any armed manifestations inside the town or in its vicinity, and to pursue anyone who carries weapons outside the framework of legitimate institutions,” referring to Hezbollah.

The people of Qlayaa “refuse to allow their town to be turned into an arena for any armed activity that might endanger civilians,” he said, in comments carried on the NNA.

Samir Geagea, the head of Lebanon’s leading Christian party, charged that Hezbollah-linked figures “infiltrated” Qlayaa, which he blamed for the strikes resulting in Rai’s death. He also accused the Lebanese army of having “not fulfilled its duty” to enforce the government’s recent decision to ban the Iran-backed terror group’s military activity.

On Friday, Rai had taken part in a gathering organized by locals in the neighboring town of Marjayoun, where they said they were determined to remain in their homes despite evacuation warnings issued by the Israeli army to all residents south of the Litani river, about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from the border.

In a speech, Rai had welcomed Beirut’s declared crackdown on Hezbollah’s military activity, saying: “We thank the government for its recent bold decisions that declared that any military or security activity or military operations outside of the authority of the state is illegal.”

He had said this gave him and fellow priests the “momentum” to stay, adding: “When we defend our land, we defend it peacefully, and we carry only the weapons of peace, goodness, love and prayer.”

“We are compelled to remain in danger because these are our homes and we will not leave them,” he’d said.

Three days ago, Father Pierre Al-Rai, the parish priest in the village of Al-Qlayaa in southern Lebanon, welcomed the Lebanese government’s recent decision declaring that any military or security activity outside the authority of the state is illegal—referring to the government’s… pic.twitter.com/BhxIk1rcGd

— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) March 9, 2026

Residents of other Christian towns along the border are also trying to stay out of the fighting.

West of Qlayaa, the last residents of the Christian village of Alma al-Shaaab fled the area on Tuesday, the mayor and an AFP correspondent said, after locals had for days defied the Israeli order to leave.

On Tuesday, an AFP correspondent in the nearby Naqura area saw a convoy of vehicles transporting people who had left Alma al-Shaab, including women, children and the elderly. Their cars were packed with belongings, some strapped to the roofs.

Vehicles from Lebanon’s United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) accompanied the convoy to a Lebanese army checkpoint further north, the correspondent said.

Mayor Shadi Sayah told AFP that “83 people left and nobody remained because they felt in danger” after a resident was killed and a municipality vehicle was targeted.

Residents were informed “through the Lebanese army and UNIFIL that we had to leave, because if we stayed our lives would be in danger,” he added.

A UNIFIL source also told AFP that more than 80 people had left and the village was now empty, saying they had been transported to areas outside the force’s operations.

UNIFIL had said on Monday that “at the request of the municipality” of Alma al-Shaab, it was “ready to facilitate the safe movement of civilians who wish to leave.”

Last week, Sayah had told AFP that “it is our right to preserve and remain on our land.”

“We are pacifists… a danger to no one,” he had said.

Lebanon’s army, which had maintained a post in Alma al-Shaab, withdrew last Tuesday as Israel sent ground troops into the country.