In the Christian village of Ain Ibl, southern Lebanon, Dima Diab prepares sandwiches at home on May 30, 2026, for a barbecue planned in the town center. (Credit: Lucile Wassermann/L’Orient-Le Jour)
Day 1: The convoy arrivesWe have just crossed the “Yellow Line,” imposed by the Israeli military to mark what it calls its “security zone,” a strip of more than 600 square kilometers in southern Lebanon. There is not a soul in sight, only a landscape of ruins stretching to the horizon and tracks left by Israeli tanks that have churned up the ground.Our destination is three Christian villages in the Bint Jbeil district, cut off from the rest of the country. We are traveling aboard a humanitarian convoy, the residents’ only remaining lifeline. Along the way, there is little to see except a bicycle lying abandoned on the road and a pink sweater hanging from a twisted metal bar. Then, as we move forward, clay-colored rooftops emerge among the oak trees covering a nearby hillside. Ain Ibl is now only a few hundred meters away.The closer we...
Day 1: The convoy arrivesWe have just crossed the “Yellow Line,” imposed by the Israeli military to mark what it calls its “security zone,” a strip of more than 600 square kilometers in southern Lebanon. There is not a soul in sight, only a landscape of ruins stretching to the horizon and tracks left by Israeli tanks that have churned up the ground.Our destination is three Christian villages in the Bint Jbeil district, cut off from the rest of the country. We are traveling aboard a humanitarian convoy, the residents’ only remaining lifeline. Along the way, there is little to see except a bicycle lying abandoned on the road and a pink sweater hanging from a twisted metal bar. Then, as we move forward, clay-colored rooftops emerge among the oak trees covering a nearby hillside. Ain Ibl is now only a few hundred meters away.The...
