Israel has killed a Lebanese Maronite Catholic priest in an attack on a house in the border village of Qlayaa, Catholic officials and media have said.
The reports said Fr. Pierre al-Rahi was killed from wounds sustained in the attack.
Al-Rahi had earlier refused, along with other priests, to comply with an illegal Israeli military order to evacuate the Christian village of Qlayaa.
“Father Pierre al-Rahi was from my village, Dibeh, but he was the parish priest of Qlayaa in Marjayoun,” OSV News cited Lebanese Maronite Father Jean Younes as saying.
The Maronite village, which has about 8,000 residents, is located in the Marjayoun district a few kilometres from the Israeli border.
The Israeli military has been carrying out an intensive bombing aggression in southern Lebanon, southern Beirut and the Bekaa Valley.
Lebanese media reports said an Israeli Merkava tank fired twice at a house in Qlayaa.
The first strike wounded the homeowner and his wife.
Al-Rahi and several neighbours rushed to help the wounded when the tank fired again.
The priest was wounded in the second Israeli tank strike and later died from his wounds.
Several other Lebanese civilians were also wounded in the attack.
