Report: Lebanese bishops may be asked to enter Israel via Jordan

Contacts are underway behind the scenes in a bid to reach a “settlement” related to the case of Archbishop Moussa al-Hajj, a media report said on Friday.

“Under the expected settlement, Hajj would not be legally prosecuted for violating boycott laws and for communicating with Lebanese and non-Lebanese sides carrying the citizenship of an enemy country, and the money and medicines he was carrying would be confiscated,” informed sources told al-Akhbar newspaper.

“The Naqoua border crossing would meanwhile be closed and the church would be asked to use Jordan as a gateway to the Palestinian territories. The archbishop and others would also stop carrying any kind of financial or material aid from occupied Palestine,” the sources added.

“Certain sides have put Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in this picture and he has received assurances that Hezbollah has nothing to do with the issue, while President Michel Aoun has urged the patriarch not to allow rabble-rousers to exploit this file for political motives,” the sources went on to say.