Lebanon's Foreign Minister has appealed to the Holy See for diplomatic support to preserve the Christian presence in border villages near Israel in the south of the country as the country faces renewed conflict and upheaval.

Vatican News reports that since the outbreak of fresh hostilities in the Middle East, Christians in southern Lebanon have faced relentless bombardments and evacuation orders, contributing to a mounting humanitarian crisis.

Lebanon has come under fire from Israel becase it is the home of Hezbollah, a radical Islamist group backed by Iran that holds 14 seats in the 128 parliament, but it is desingated a terrorist group by some countries.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi spoke by phone on March 10 with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican's head of international relations, according to the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni.

Raggi said he was requesting assistance from the Holy See to "preserve the Christian presence" near the border with Israel.

Lebanon is the Middle Eastern country with the largest Christian population. The current population of Lebanon is 5,879,983, according to Worldometer's estimate based on the latest United Nations data.

UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan told a press conference at the UN in Geneva on March 17 that "another tragic chapter in Lebanon's history is being written, bringing more suffering to civilians."

           - NEARLY 900 KILLEED SINCE EARLY MARCH

He said that since March 2, at least 886 people have been killed, including at least 111 children, according to Lebanese authorities.

"Israeli airstrikes have destroyed hundreds of homes and civilian infrastructure, including healthcare facilities. At the same time, Hezbollah fighters have launched indiscriminate barrages of rockets at Israel, injuring people and causing damage to residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure," said Al-Kheetan..

"In many instances, Israeli airstrikes have destroyed entire residential buildings in dense urban environments, with multiple members of the same family, including women and children, often killed together."

He said such attacks raise serious concerns under international humanitarian law.

"People displaced by the fighting and living in tents along Beirut's seafront have also been hit. And in recent days, at least 16 medical staff have been killed," said Al-Kheetan.

In 2023, the United States Department of State cited a study conducted by Statistics Lebanon, a Beirut-based research firm, estimating Lebanon's population to be 69.3 percent Muslim (32.2 percent Shia; 31.2 percent Sunni and 5.5 percent Druze).

The same study found 30.5 percent of Lebanon's population to be Christian. Of whom 52.5 per cent are Maronite (affiliated with Rome) and 25 per cent are Greek Orthodox, the two largest Christian groups.

The UN said large-scale displacement continues in Lebanon.

According to official figures from OCHA, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 830,000 people – around 14 percent of Lebanon's population – have registered themselves as displaced, 290,000 of whom are children.

Many families have fled their homes multiple times as hostilities spread to new areas.

Just 15 percent of those displaced are in public shelters, with many others relying on host families, informal arrangements or staying on the streets, along the roadsides and seaside.

The Israel Defense Forces said on March 17 had pushed even more forces deeper into southern Lebanon to create an expanded buffer zone, as Hezbollah attacked towns in northern Israel with rockets and drones, The Times of Israel reported..

The buffer zone was established after the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group began attacking Israel earlier this month, shortly after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on the Iranan.

Since March 2, when Hezbollah began attacking Israel in response to the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei, Hezbollah has launched around 100 rockets a day, according to the IDF, as well as more than 100 drones over the entire period.