“Leaving Is the Last Thing We Think About”: Lebanese Border Village Defies Strikes and Invasion Threat
March 24, 2026
THE LAND IS OUR SOUL AND WE AREN’T LEAVING.
Christopher Abdalla and the residents of this historic Christian village are refusing to flee, even as Israeli artillery rains down on their doorsteps.
For these families, leaving is not an option, it’s a death sentence for their heritage. They’ve seen what temporary displacement looks like in Gaza and they know the goal of the US and Israel is to empty the land to make room for their occupation. Despite the escalating strikes and the shadow of a ground invasion, the message from the border is clear: our roots go deeper than your bombs.
They thought they could scare us into becoming refugees in our own country, but they underestimated the grit of the Lebanese people. We aren’t just defending houses; we are defending our right to exist on the land of our ancestors.
Source: @theobserveruk
#LebanonUnderAttack #RashayaAlFoukhar #Israel #fyp #gaza
English Script:
Oliver Marsden: Now we can hear that, I think that’s artillery going on over us landing. So we’re heading to the town of Rashaya al-Foukhar, which is close to the border with Israel, and it’s just outside the Israeli evacuation orders. This is a Christian village, and people have been staying put. They haven’t been forced to leave, but they are surrounded by villages that are being hit. They sit opposite the town of Khiam, where fierce gun battles have been going on in the streets between the IDF and Hezbollah. It’s getting hit regularly. You can hear Israeli jets flying overhead. So I’m going to go and see how they’re feeling, how this civil defense is getting on, and how members of the community are feeling with the Israeli tanks that are amassing at the border. And they’re definitely going to come in. I want to see how they feel, knowing that the South will soon be invaded by Israel. We’re in Rashaya al-Foukhar, Christian village. But it’s very close to the border. That’s artillery.
Lebanese guy: It’s very hard, you know, now we say leave your country, but it’s not the easiest thing. People have their hearts here. Rashaya is part of my heart. I can’t leave Rashaya right now and leave for Beirut because we have businesses, we have homes, we have lands that we can’t leave, and it’s hard to leave them. We can’t yet. But, as they come, when it’s part of our lands, part of our homes that is getting bombed or something, maybe we can think about leaving. But now leaving is the last thing that we think about.
