| 2024 Derdghaya Melkite Church airstrike | |
| Location: | Derdghaya, Lebanon |
| Date: | 9 October 2024 |
| Partof: | the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon |
| Target: | Melkite Church |
| Type: | Airstrikes, massacre |
| Fatalities: | 8+ |
On 9 October 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted an airstrike on a Melkite church in the village of Derdghaya, in Southern Lebanon, as part of the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.[1] The airstrike killed at least eight people inside the church. The IDF also hit the house of a priest and the parish offices.
As a result of the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, 1.2 million Lebanese citizens have been displaced from their homes.[2] The Melkite Church in Derdghaya, Tyre District was housing some of these displaced in the church and two of the adjoining halls.
The church had been previously bombed by Israel in 1978 and again in 1992.
The Catholic pastoral aid organization, Aid to the Church in Need reported that on 9 October 2024, an Israeli missile hit the church, completely destroying it and killing at least eight people inside. Another missile hit a priests house and a three-story building which had the parish offices, completely destroying them as well.[3]
The Israeli army claimed that the attack was directed against militiamen.[4]
On 11 October 2024, Pope Francis released two statements on X stating,[5]
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, issued a statement that same day saying “We will not surrender to events that seem to drive us apart, but we will always seek to be thirsty builders of peace and justice.”