Rai Calls on Army to Prevent Launching Missiles From Lebanese Territory

 Lebanon’s Patriarch Bechara Rahi during Sunday’s mass in Diman (NNA)
Lebanon’s Patriarch Bechara Rahi during Sunday’s mass in Diman (NNA)
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Rai Calls on Army to Prevent Launching Missiles From Lebanese Territory

 Lebanon’s Patriarch Bechara Rahi during Sunday’s mass in Diman (NNA)
Lebanon’s Patriarch Bechara Rahi during Sunday’s mass in Diman (NNA)

Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai affirmed Sunday that he stands by Lebanese people of the south to denounce the tense security situation, calling on the army to prevent the launching of missiles from Lebanese territory.

During Sunday’s Mass in Diman, Rai condemned the periodic Israeli violations against southern Lebanon, and the violation of Security Council Resolution 1701, as well as the heated tension in the border areas of residential villages and their surroundings.

“We cannot accept that a party decides peace and war outside the national decision entrusted to two-thirds of the cabinet and based on Article 65 of the Constitution,” he noted.

"It is true that Lebanon has not signed peace with Israel, but it is also true that Lebanon has not decided war with it, and is officially committed to the 1949 truce.”

The Patriarch stressed that Lebanon should not be involved in military operations that provoke devastating Israeli reactions.

"We call upon the Lebanese army, which is responsible with the international forces for the security of the south, to take control of the entire lands of the south, to strictly implement Resolution 1701, and to prevent the launching of missiles from Lebanese territory, not for the sake of Israel's safety, but rather for the safety of Lebanon,” he added.



Britain 'Taking Forward' Gaza Food Airdrop Plan, Says PM Starmer's Office

A volunteer distributes rations of red lentil soup to displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 18, 2024. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP)
A volunteer distributes rations of red lentil soup to displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 18, 2024. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP)
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Britain 'Taking Forward' Gaza Food Airdrop Plan, Says PM Starmer's Office

A volunteer distributes rations of red lentil soup to displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 18, 2024. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP)
A volunteer distributes rations of red lentil soup to displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 18, 2024. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday spoke to his French and German counterparts and outlined UK plans to get aid to people in Gaza and evacuate sick and injured children, his office said.

"The prime minister set out how the UK will also be taking forward plans to work with partners such as Jordan to airdrop aid and evacuate children requiring medical assistance," a statement said, AFP reported.

In a phone conversation, Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz discussed the humanitarian situation in Gaza "which they agreed is appalling".

"They all agreed it would be vital to ensure robust plans are in place to turn an urgently needed ceasefire into lasting peace," according to a readout released by Downing Street.

"They discussed their intention to work closely together on a plan.... which would pave the way to a long-term solution and security in the region. They agreed that once this plan was worked up, they would seek to bring in other key partners, including in the region, to advance it," it added.

The discussion comes a day after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres slammed the international community for turning a blind eye to widespread starvation in the Gaza Strip, calling it a "moral crisis that challenges the global conscience".

Aid groups have warned of surging cases of starvation, particularly among children, in war-ravaged Gaza, which Israel placed under an aid blockade in March amid its ongoing war with Hamas. That blockade was partially eased two months later.

The trickle of aid since then has been controlled by the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.