Milad Elia, the mukhtar of the village of Derdghaya in southern Lebanon, stands on Dec. 23, 2024 in the church of Saint-Georges, severely damaged by an Israeli strike on Oct. 9. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L'Orient-Le Jour)
Amid the rubble of the Greek-Catholic Saint George Church in Derdghaya, the mukhtar (local official), Milad Elia, has set up a Christmas tree surrounded by flowers and decorations — a gesture to mark the occasion. The tree is a bit too small to hold all the ornaments, some of which remain packed away in a box.Derdghaya, located in the Sour district of South Lebanon, is officially Christian according to civil records but with a majority Shiite population. In this village, there will be a Christmas without a church. On the night of Oct. 9, an Israeli strike targeting the square near the religious building blew out the façade of the Saint George Church, which had been expanded in 1911 and restored in 1980 and 2017. Read more In Kfar Shuba, the Khalife family returns to a destroyed home for the sixth time “We didn’t get to enjoy the...
Amid the rubble of the Greek-Catholic Saint George Church in Derdghaya, the mukhtar (local official), Milad Elia, has set up a Christmas tree surrounded by flowers and decorations — a gesture to mark the occasion. The tree is a bit too small to hold all the ornaments, some of which remain packed away in a box.Derdghaya, located in the Sour district of South Lebanon, is officially Christian according to civil records but with a majority Shiite population. In this village, there will be a Christmas without a church. On the night of Oct. 9, an Israeli strike targeting the square near the religious building blew out the façade of the Saint George Church, which had been expanded in 1911 and restored in 1980 and 2017. Read more In Kfar Shuba, the Khalife family returns to a destroyed home for the sixth time “We didn’t get to enjoy...