Al-Rahi urges 'Lebanon's return to its neutrality'
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday condemned “the genocidal and brutal war that is ongoing in Gaza,” while rejecting “its spread to the southern villages” in Lebanon.
“Lebanon is not a land of war but rather a land of dialogue and peace,” al-Rahi said in his Sunday Mass sermon.
“The spread of the war to Lebanon comes in violation of Resolution 1701 and it is necessary for Lebanon to return to its neutrality as a defender, through diplomacy, of any usurped rights,” the patriarch added.
He also noted that “Lebanon’s neutrality is not something new, but is rather part of the core of Lebanon’s identity since 1860.”
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, Hezbollah and Israeli forces have engaged in near-daily clashes on the border that have killed around 150 people on the Lebanese side -- most of them fighters with Hezbollah and allied groups, but also at least 17 civilians.
Some 72,437 people in Lebanon are displaced, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Source: Naharnet
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