This afternoon Fr Gregorius Saloum, parish priest at the Greek Orthodox Church in Ibl al-Saqi, southern Lebanon, was reported killed by the Quds News Network.
Initially, it was thought that the clergyman, who belongs to the Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, was only wounded. As the hours went, his death was reported but not officially confirmed.
Amid a cacophony of contrasting voices, a feeling of great fear and deep concern is gripping Lebanese Christians, marked by the war between Hezbollah and Israel, which saw Israel launch a "limited" ground operation overnight.
Initial reports indicate that Fr Gregorius’s wife and children were also wounded. His home, located on al-Sagi hill, appears to have been hit by several rockets.
The fate of the Orthodox priest is but the latest in a series involving attacks and destruction that have affected Lebanese Christians in a war pitting Hezbollah against Israel but in fact affects everyone in the country.
Yesterday, Kfour, a Christian village near Nabatieh, was also hit by Israeli fire with heavy damages at the local church.
Before that, the village of Aïn el-Delb, near Sidon, in the south of the country, was hit by Israeli planes. In the Christian majority location, 32 deaths have been confirmed, including a Christian woman, plus scores of wounded.
A source told AsiaNews that the target was a prominent local Hezbollah fighter, named Ahmad Awarki, who leads the Shia movement in the city of Sidon.
To reach him and be sure to kill him, Israel did not hesitate to fire multiple rockets and an entire building collapsed once it was hit.