A Christian Israeli living three miles from the border with Lebanon said he evacuated his family because he believes Hezbollah is a more powerful enemy than Hamas.
"There's no reason for kids and children to hear those explosions," Shadi Khaloul said. "As a responsible father, I just sent them away from here, and I asked them to just pray for us."
Since Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack, there have been fears of Hezbollah — an Iran-backed terrorist group in Lebanon — entering the war. Israel evacuated its residents that live within 1.2 miles from Lebanon on Monday amid cross-border fire, including Hezbollah launching anti-tank missiles into the Jewish state.
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"Our family was evacuated, too, by itself," he said. "We didn't wait for the military to actually ask us because I know the scenario and what will happen if this front will really open widely."
Khaloul, 47, said he evacuated his wife, children, brother, and sister-in-law, as well as his nieces and nephews to Europe, though he didn't specify which country "for security reasons."
"I am here with my parents," Khaloul said, adding that he hasn’t evacuated because "I am here to defend our home, community and Israel."
Khaloul, who is a major for the Israeli Defense Forces' reserves and was previously a paratrooper, said he believes Hezbollah is more dangerous than Hamas because of its involvement assisting President Bashar al-Assad during the Syrian civil war.
"They, in the last 10 years, were well-trained in a war — active war — in Syria," he said. "They already know how to fight. They know how to use military equipment and how to fight physically other forces."
Khaloul pointed out that Hezbollah has more sophisticated military equipment than Hamas and, according to Foundation for Defense of Democracies, had an estimated stockpile of about 130,000 rockets as of April. He said any conflict with Hezbollah would inflict more damage than anything seen so far in the Israel-Hamas war.
"I can assure you Israel will win this war," Khaloul said. "We will win this war."
Khaloul said he also pays close attention to Israel’s neighbors in his role as a director at the Alma Center, an organization that educates English speakers on Middle Eastern geopolitics and Israel's border challenges.
"We withdrew from Lebanon 23 years ago to the last centimeter," Khaloul said. "We are not occupying lands in Lebanon so what [Hezbollah is] doing is only because Iran orders them to do so."
Khaloul lives in the town of Jish in the upper Galilee region and is a part of the Christian Maronite Aramaic community that believes they are descendants of Jesus’ earliest followers. Many members of this community do not identify as Arab and speak or pray in Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke.
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The Israeli government recognized Aramean as an official minority in 2014, according to Haaretz.
Khaloul also serves as president of the Christian Aramean Society of Israel, an organization trying to revive the Aramaic identity and encourage its youth to serve in the IDF.
"Our community here are actually a mixed community between Christian and Muslims and surrounded by also Jews," he said. "We are all worried for what is happening here at the border."
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Khaloul said he has seen significant IDF artillery equipment, tanks, helicopters and airplanes in his region.
"We see a lot of tension building up, a lot of forces coming in, and they are ready to defend the citizens of the state of Israel from this aggression by Hezbollah and Iran," Khaloul said.
"We hear a lot of sirens sometimes," he added. "We hear a lot of explosions around us as well in the north."
Khaloul said his concerns span beyond just his fellow Israelis.
"We are worried not only for ourselves, we are worried also for the Lebanese Christians that are on the other side," Khaloul said, adding that Lebanese Christians could get caught in the crossfire if Hezbollah starts a war with Israel.
"I feel sad for the Lebanese people," he added, referring to the Christians, specifically. "They are poor."
