In the ruins of a bombed-out church in Lebanon, there's now a tiny Christmas tree

DARDGHAYA, Lebanon (AP) — A Christmas tree stands among the fallen stones of what remains of St. George Melkite Catholic Church in southern Lebanon. Once a vibrant community center, the 18th-century church is in ruins after an Israeli airstrike in October.

Georges Elia, a 40-year-old municipal worker and churchgoer, took it upon himself to bring some normalcy as the holiday season approached, weeks after a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants.

“This year, Christmas is arriving with sadness for us, but we didn’t want it to be a sad one for the town’s residents and its church,” Elia said. “We tried to put up a tree, even if it is a modest and simple one.”

It's a small tree, shorter than him. He bent to place the shining garland and the final star. Crystal chandeliers hang, still intact, above the shattered pews. Paper images of Santa Claus lay on the debris.

The Christmas tree lacks lights, since the war destroyed power lines. It also lacks the traditional Nativity scene, since it might fall apart on the uneven ground.

“But, of course, Christ is born in our hearts, lit with our love for him,” Elia said.

The church was struck as Israel bombarded southern Lebanon and sent in ground forces, turning what had been a low-intensity conflict of near-daily exchanges of fire into all-out war. Hezbollah said it attacked in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, while Israel said it wanted a safe border area so citizens could return home.

Elia, his family and the rest of the community fled their homes after receiving evacuation orders on Sept. 23, joining hundreds of thousands of people displaced in Lebanon.

The church serves around 30 families. The airstrike marked the third time it had been damaged by Israeli forces over the years.

“In the Israeli invasion in 1978, we lost the western wall to the church. The residential rooms were hit by Israeli airstrikes in 1992,” said the priest, Father Maurice el Khoury.

When Elia returned weeks later, he found the damage worse than he had imagined. “The photos didn’t show how bad it really is,” he said.

The priest, who has served the church for 11 years, recalled the moment he saw its destruction.

“My blood pressure went up. I lost my balance and had to lean on the wall,” he said. “For me to see it this way, I couldn’t comprehend it.”

The financial toll of the damage is staggering, too. El Khoury estimates restoration costs at nearly $3 million.

The church’s destruction is part of the war’s devastation in Lebanon. The World Bank has said almost 100,000 homes across the country have been partially or completely destroyed during the 14-month war, with damage amounting to an estimated $3.2 billion.

With the main church building in rubble, el Khoury now conducts Sunday Mass in a small underground room that once housed visiting bishops and priests, reading by the light of a mobile phone. The room, though damaged, was repaired to serve as a temporary place of worship.

During one Mass, the priest reminded families of the true essence of the holiday season.

“This room is more like the cave where Jesus was born,” he said. “We are the people embodying the birth of Christ in our reality.”

The priest said the community’s faith has not wavered: “For this upcoming Christmas, we will have Mass here.”

A mosque is seen from St. George Melkite Catholic Church, that was destroyed by Israeli airstrike, in the town of Dardghaya in southern Lebanon, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A christian man rings the bells next to a Christmas tree that has been decorated inside St. George Melkite Catholic Church in the town of Dardghaya in southern Lebanon, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Priest Maurice el Khoury, center, leads the Sunday Mass inside a room that is usually used as a residence for visiting bishops next to his St. George Melkite Catholic church, that was destroyed by Israeli airstrike, in the town of Dardghaya in southern Lebanon, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Icons are seen inside St. George Melkite Catholic Church, that was destroyed by Israeli airstrike, in the town of Dardghaya in southern Lebanon, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A christian man rings the bells next to a Christmas tree that has been decorated inside St. George Melkite Catholic Church in the town of Dardghaya in southern Lebanon, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Georges Elia decorates a Christmas tree inside St. George Melkite Catholic Church, that was destroyed by Israeli airstrike, in the town of Dardghaya in southern Lebanon, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Georges Elia decorates a Christmas tree inside St. George Melkite Catholic Church, that was destroyed by Israeli airstrike, in the town of Dardghaya in southern Lebanon, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Georges Elia decorates a Christmas tree inside St. George Melkite Catholic Church, that was destroyed by Israeli airstrike, in the town of Dardghaya in southern Lebanon, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Icons are seen inside St. George Melkite Catholic Church, that was destroyed by Israeli airstrike, in the town of Dardghaya in southern Lebanon, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) — Crews were set to resume searching Wednesday for nine workers at a Washington paper mill where a tank imploded, releasing a highly destructive chemical mixture called “white liquor” and causing at least one confirmed death.

Authorities said there was no hope of finding any more survivors of Tuesday's tank implosion at Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. in Longview, which also injured nine other people, including a responding firefighter. But before any bodies of the missing can be recovered, crews on Wednesday must first stabilize the tank, which was at risk of collapsing further and leaking more of the caustic liquid.

The implosion caused the huge circular tank to buckle and collapse on one side, and officials said they would only work during daylight because of the dangers. While the cause remained unknown, authorities said there was no threat to the community, a Columbia River city of about 40,000 people with long ties to the Washington and Oregon paper and lumber industries.

It was the second notable chemical tank failure in days on the West Coast, following the evacuation of thousands of Southern California residents due to a damaged tank at an aerospace plant before those orders were lifted Tuesday night.

The paper mill tank was holding about 900,000 gallons (3.4 million liters) of a liquid made of mostly sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide. Known as “white liquor,” it's used with heat to break down wood to make kraft paper, a durable material used in packaging, shopping bags and other products.

The sprawling plant, which employs about 1,000 people, makes material for tissues, printing paper, cups, plates, and cartons. The facility sits right along the river next to other timber, paper and chemical businesses.

At a community vigil Tuesday night, dozens gathered to pray, light candles and embrace loved ones.

Crystal Moldenhauer, a Longview resident, said she has friends at the plant who remained unaccounted for. She said people called and texted each other all day trying to figure out what happened.

“We’re all still waiting for answers,” she said. “There’s families that have been torn apart, and we don’t know why.”

The cause of the implosion remained unclear.

Scott Goldstein, a fire chief with Cowlitz County, said Tuesday night that the tank still held about 90,000 gallons (more than 340,000 liters) of the volatile liquid.

“We don’t know until we know, hopefully tomorrow, how we can stabilize the tank. Do we remove the product first? Do we stabilize the tank first or the vice versa?” Goldstein said.

Hours after the disaster, officials repeatedly referred to the situation as a recovery effort.

Some of those who were injured suffered burns or inhalation injuries, authorities said.

Following the tank's rupture, the liquid spilled into a drainage ditch, said Brittny Goodsell, a state Ecology Department spokesperson.

“I know there’s a lot of questions about how all of this happened and I want to assure you that we will all continue to pressure to get answers to those questions,” Murray said.

Safety complaints were filed against Nippon Dynawave in March and May. The state’s labor and industries department said on X that both were unrelated to the current situation. One was an anonymous complaint about a valve on a tank, according to the department, which noted that it was not the tank that imploded.

Nippon Dynawave, a subsidiary of Japan-based Nippon Paper Group, has been fined $3,400 for three separate health and safety violations found by Washington Department of Labor and Industries inspectors since the start of 2021, according to the department’s online database.

Just over 40 people died between January 2021 and mid-October 2023 as a result of hazardous chemical incidents in the U.S., according to a paper released by a network of environmental justice organizations in late 2023.

Boone reported from Boise, Idaho. Associated Press reporters Gene Johnson and Hallie Golden in Seattle and Christopher L. Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed.

This photo provided by the City of Longview, Wash., shows structural damage to the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co., after a tank containing hazardous liquid imploded, on Tuesday, May 26, 2026 in Longview, Wash. (City of Longview via AP)