Almost 30,000 people have been forced from their homes in Lebanon after a series of overnight missile attacks struck Beirut on 2 March, bringing an end to the fragile ceasefire that had been in place since late 2024.
Explosions were reported by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) charity staff across the Lebanese capital in the early hours of Monday morning, with over 10 strikes targeting the southern outskirts of the city at about 2.30am local time.
The blasts were heard as far away as the Keserwan region, while additional strikes were reported in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley.
According to ACN, warnings were issued to approximately 50 villages, forcing thousands of families to escape by road.
Major routes out of southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs soon became heavily congested, leaving families stranded in traffic for hours.
Speaking to ACN from the southern port city of Saida, Melkite Greek-Catholic Bishop Elie Haddad described the intensity of the situation: “Missiles are flying over our heads.”
Although Saida itself was not directly hit, public buildings have been turned into temporary shelters. State schools have hosted families fleeing the violence, while parish centres are also receiving displaced people.
The renewed violence follows a dramatic escalation in the wider region after US-Israeli strikes at the weekend killed Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with a number of senior Iranian officials.
The development has further destabilised the region after months of almost daily Israeli strikes on Lebanon, and recent rocket and drone attacks on northern Israel claimed by the Iran-backed group Hezbollah.
Church leaders across Lebanon say the humanitarian pressure is already growing.
Melkite Bishop Georges Iskandar of Tyre warned that about 800 Christian families in his diocese could soon need support if the violence persists.
“People are exhausted,” he said to ACN. “They fear for their children and their future; they yearn for a simple and ordinary life.”
He added: “As the shepherd of this local Church, my foremost concern is to remain close to these innocent people: to be present among them, to listen to their suffering, to pray with them, and to remind them that their dignity is safeguarded in the sight of God, and that Christian hope is not built upon balances of power but upon faith in the Lord of history, who wills peace for His people.”
Also in Tyre, Maronite Bishop Charbel Abdallah told ACN that while many residents are staying put for now, Christians have started to leave nearby border villages.
Maronite Bishop Hanna Rahme, of Baalbek-Deir El Ahmar, told the charity that both Muslim and Christian families from Baalbek have been fleeing to the town of Deir El Ahmar, many returning to locations that had previously offered them shelter during earlier clashes.
Local churches and schools, including St Nohra Church, have been accommodating the new arrivals.
Although facilities are already reaching capacity, Bishop Rahme said that the Church would not turn anyone away.
“They are our people. We will take care of them with what we have,” he said.
An estimated 100 people are currently sheltering in a school administered by the Sisters of the Good Service in the village of Zboud. Sister Jocelyne Joumaa told ACN the building is now full.
“We are safe for now, but certainly it will be our turn soon,” she said.
Numerous dioceses have told ACN that if the violence intensifies, they could be forced to request international aid to help supply food, emergency relief items and essential assistance for displaced families.
Christian Aid has also called for an urgent ceasefire across the region.
William Bell, the charity’s head of Middle East policy and advocacy, said governments must act quickly to prevent the crisis escalating further.
“The UK Government must work urgently to bring this war to an immediate end before mounting humanitarian suffering across the region escalates into a global crisis with no clear end in sight,” he said.
“With most of Gaza’s borders closed, families are in real danger of running out of food. The widespread displacement across Lebanon means our partners are rapidly assessing how best to support communities, while in the West Bank settler violence against Palestinians continues.”
He added that civilians across the region were once again bearing the brunt of a long-running conflict.
“As ever, it is innocent civilians who are paying the price for decades of impunity and international political failure in the Middle East," he said.
The Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt Rev Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, who is herself Iranian, said that the strikes on Iran risk deepening instability across the region.
“The attacks on Iran by the United States and Israel and the reprisals by the Iranian regime have brought a new wave of fear, uncertainty and in many cases devastation to the people of Iran and the whole Middle East, with more nations and people now being dragged into the conflict” she said.
Bishop Francis-Dehqani, while acknowledging that the Iranian regime “has done profound harm and is deeply unpopular,” cautioned that the consequences of military intervention remain deeply uncertain.
She echoed the Archbishop of Jerusalem's call for prayer, asking believers to seek protection for civilians and wisdom for those making political decisions in what she described as a “profoundly dangerous situation”.
Her words reflect a wider unease among Christian communities with ties to Iran.
The death of Ayatollah Khamenei has triggered sharply differing reactions among Christian groups.
Some Iranian Christian networks have welcomed the development, accusing the long-time leader of overseeing decades of repression, including the persecution of converts from Islam.
A report published this month by advocacy organisations Article 18, Christian Solidarity Worldwide and Middle East Concern found that the number of Christians arrested for their faith nearly doubled in 2025, from 139 to 254.
Iran ranks 10th on Open Doors' list of the world's worst persecutors of Christians.
Others such as the Archbishop of Jerusalem, however, have urged restraint and prayer.
Pope Leo has likewise called for dialogue rather than further military action, saying stability and peace “are not achieved through mutual threats, nor through the use of weapons, which sow destruction, suffering, and death, but only through reasonable, sincere, and responsible dialogue.”
