Rahi Doubts Loyalty of Lebanese Politicians towards their Country

Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rahi met Wednesday with Caretaker Minister of Justice, Henry Khoury (NNA)
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rahi met Wednesday with Caretaker Minister of Justice, Henry Khoury (NNA)
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Rahi Doubts Loyalty of Lebanese Politicians towards their Country

Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rahi met Wednesday with Caretaker Minister of Justice, Henry Khoury (NNA)
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rahi met Wednesday with Caretaker Minister of Justice, Henry Khoury (NNA)

Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rahi expressed on Wednesday his doubts about the sincerity of Lebanon’s politicians toward their country, also accusing the ruling class of being “beholden to their own interests.”

The Patriarch was speaking on Wednesday at the launching ceremony of the document titled “A New Vision for Lebanon Tomorrow: A Secular, Decentralized, and Neutral State.”

Rahi reiterated his call for an international conference on Lebanon because “the Lebanese politicians escaped dialogue because they are beholden to their personal interests.”

He then expressed his doubts about the sincerity of politicians toward the country, saying “there is no salvation for Lebanon if we remain as we are. Lebanon is ill, and officials do not want to treat its illness or know its cause.”

Rahi added: “It is not the right of officials to devastate a country and its people by destroying the system and the constitution.”

For his part, Sheikh Sami Abdel Khalek representing Sheikh Akl of the Druze Community Sheikh Naim Hassan, said during the ceremony that the Lebanese must work for the interest of the country and not for the interest of the sect and the party.”

Meanwhile, Bishop Samir Mazloum expressed his regret that there are Lebanese politicians who assassinated the State in order to make profit.

Last November, Rahi urged to the United Nations to save Lebanon by holding an international conference – a call that was supported by the country’s opposition parties and rejected by Shiites.



Israel Warns People to Evacuate from More Areas in East, South Lebanon

Workers remove the rubble from the site of an Israeli airstrike the previous day that targeted the eastern Lebanese village of Bednayel in the Bekaa valley, on October 31, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Sam SKAINEH / AFP)
Workers remove the rubble from the site of an Israeli airstrike the previous day that targeted the eastern Lebanese village of Bednayel in the Bekaa valley, on October 31, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Sam SKAINEH / AFP)
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Israel Warns People to Evacuate from More Areas in East, South Lebanon

Workers remove the rubble from the site of an Israeli airstrike the previous day that targeted the eastern Lebanese village of Bednayel in the Bekaa valley, on October 31, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Sam SKAINEH / AFP)
Workers remove the rubble from the site of an Israeli airstrike the previous day that targeted the eastern Lebanese village of Bednayel in the Bekaa valley, on October 31, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Sam SKAINEH / AFP)

The Israeli military warned people to evacuate from more areas of the eastern city of Baalbek and south Lebanon, including a built-up Palestinian refugee camp.

Israeli airstrikes, meanwhile, killed at least ten people in different parts of the country on Thursday.

The Rashidiyeh refugee camp near the port city of Tyre is one of several dating back to the 1948 Mideast war, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were driven out of what is now Israel.

Israel invaded Lebanon at the start of October, after nearly a year of trading fire with Hezbollah. The group began firing rockets, missiles and drones on northern Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack triggered the war in Gaza. Iran backs both groups.

Israel has warned people to evacuate from large areas of the country, including major cities in the south and east. Over a million people have already fled their homes.

Israeli strikes killed seven people in eastern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News agency. Another strike killed a man on a motorcycle on the coastal highway between Tyre and Sidon.

The news agency also reported a strike on a car on a main highway running through the mountains outside the capital, Beirut. It said the strike in Araya closed the highway, diverting traffic through nearby villages.

Two people were killed in the attack, media reports said.