Hezbollah anti-tank missile hits Israeli church – one civilian and 9 IDF soldiers injured in rescue effort

Hezbollah launched an anti-tank missile that hit the St. Mary Greek Melkite Church in Iqrit on Tuesday afternoon, injuring an 80-year-old Arab-Israeli civilian who was praying there. 

According to Israel Defense Forces, nine soldiers who arrived to evacuate the civilians were injured by a second missile fired by Hezbollah terrorists at the same church. 

Eight of the soldiers were moderately or lightly wounded, while one sustained serious injuries. 

Israel accused Hezbollah of “extremist and dangerous ideology,” saying both Hezbollah and Hamas are “firing from holy sites in Lebanon and Gaza, and firing at holy sites across Israel.” 

The IDF said the attack was “a clear violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.” 

UN Security Council Resolution 1701 states that only Lebanese armed forces or the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) may be deployed between the border and the Litani River. The resolution was adopted following the Second Lebanon War in 2006. 

Shortly after the missile fire incident at the church, another Hezbollah terror cell fired at Israel from a site located next to a mosque. The IDF released a video of that Hezbollah launch, adding: “This is further proof of Hezbollah’s cynical exploitation of Lebanese civilians and holy sites for its terrorist activity.” 

Hezbollah fired from within a mosque in southern Lebanon toward Israeli civilians.

This is not Hezbollah’s first attack involving a holy site today.

Places of worship should be sacred, not sacrificed for terrorism. pic.twitter.com/ss3RQvtI2G

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 26, 2023

In response to the attacks, Israeli Air Force (IAF) planes struck several Hezbollah sites in Lebanon. 

Shadi Haloul, the head of the Aramean-Christian Association in Israel, condemned the Hezbollah attacks, saying they harm Christians when they use them as human shields during attacks.

"We have seen this in previous incidents where it [Hezbollah] has harmed Christians in Lebanon and fired from their homes, which were then damaged by IDF retaliatory strikes," Haloul stated. 

While the IDF originally claimed the church was a Greek Orthodox Church, the Macedonian Greek news site AMNA, reported that it was a Greek Catholic Church, which is neither Greek Orthodox nor under the authority of the Jerusalem Patriarchate. 

Iqrit, the town where the church is located, was a Christian Arab village that was destroyed by Israel on Christmas Day in 1951 to prevent former residents from returning after they were expelled in the fighting during the 1948 Independence War. All that remains of the town is the church and the cemetery. 

The Lebanese border has seen near-daily strikes by Hezbollah against Israel since the war began on Oct. 7. Lebanese authorities reported that almost 100 people have been killed in Lebanon due to Israeli strikes, most of whom are Hezbollah fighters. 

According to the Catholic News Agency, almost 90% of residents from southern Lebanese Christian villages have fled their homes due to the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel. 

The Israeli government said that almost 80,000 Israeli civilians have evacuated their homes near the Lebanese border due to the Hezbollah threat.