Targeted assassination of Father Pierre Al-Rai in Qalaya (Lebanon)

On March 9, 2026, Israeli forces shelled the village of Qalaya in the Marjayoun district, killing the priest of the Christian parish, Father Pierre Al-Rai and injuring at least 4 of residents.

The shelling hit a house located in the eastern part of the village, a Christian location considered relatively safe until now. The mayor of Qlayaa, Hanna Daher, stated that the inhabitants could not explain the reasons for the attack. “We don't know why our village was bombed. The target is unclear. Qlayaa is a safe locality”, the mayor said. “The affected house is located at the east end of the village. We first heard an explosion and then the inhabitants saw smoke rising from a house to the east. Everyone rushed to the place”. The mayor said rescuers found several injured people inside the building. “When we arrived we found that the house had been hit by an artillery shell and that there were injuries inside”, he explained. “While we were trying to evacuate people, a second bullet exploded in the house. We narrowly avoided a massacre, because there were many of us on site”.

Double Tap:

Lebanese news reports stated that an Israeli Merkava tank hit a house in Qlayaa twice. The first strike wounded the owner and his wife. Father al-Rahi and other neighbors rushed to the scene to help when the tank fired a second time. Father al-Rahi was wounded from the strike and later died from his injuries. 4 other Lebanese civilians were also injured in the attack.

A terror attack in respons of the earlier public statement of the priest:

Father Pierre al-Rahi, also known by his French name Pierre el-Raï, had earlier refused, along with other priests, to obey an order by the Israeli military to evacuate the Christian village of Qlayaa, a Maronite village of some 8,000 inhabitants in the Marjayoun district, a few miles from the Israeli border. “We are forced to stay despite the danger, when we defend our land, and we do so peacefully. None of us carries weapons. All of us carry peace and goodness and love,” Father al-Rahi told the France24 television channel on the steps of his church in Qlayaa March 8, a day before his death, while tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians have already fled their homes fearing further violence in the Marjayoun district.

Israeli Army spin:

On Tuesday, the IDF confirmed that tanks fired at suspected terrorists attempting to enter a house near where IDF soldiers were operating in southern Lebanon, but the military's statement did not directly link the incident with the shell fire that caused Raei's fatal injuries.

Qlayaa’s Mayor Hanna Daher statement to AsiaNews:

“They say there were fighters in the house, but that’s not true. These are lies, inside, there were only the residents of the house and people from the village who came to help the wounded.”

Pope Leo XIV statement:

Pope Leo XIV expressed “profound sorrow for all the victims of the bombings in the Middle East over the last few days — for the many innocent people, including many children, and for those who were providing them with aid, such as Father Pierre El-Rahi, a Maronite priest killed this afternoon in Qlayaa,” the Vatican’s Telegram channel said.

The message posted by Holy See Press on Telegram said Pope Leo “is following the situation with concern and prays that all hostilities will cease as soon as possible.”

The French charity L’Oeuvre d’Orient statement:

“L’Oeuvre d’Orient condemns in the strongest possible terms these acts of war, which aim to destabilize all of Lebanon and kill innocent civilians. The death of a priest who refused to leave his parish is yet another escalation of senseless violence. L’Oeuvre d’Orient also denounces the risk of annexation and the disappearance of villages south of the Litani River, particularly historic Christian villages,”

David Azulay head of Metula settlement

Israeli Activist B.M. reports: "The audacity: Four days after talking on Israeli radio about the need to "destroy and wipe out" South Lebanon, the head of Metula settlement, David Azulay, issues a statement of condolences, in Hebrew and Arabic, for Pierre al-Rahi, the Lebanese priest who was murdered by Israel on Monday. The village of Al-Qlayaa, where al-Rahi was murdered, is located 5 kilometers from Metula. Some Lebanese Christians originally from Al-Qlayaa, who used to be part of Israel's pre-2000 collaborator militia, the South Lebanon Army, now reside in Metula."

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