Lebanon’s Rahi Warns Against Obstructing Legislative, Presidential Elections

Patriarch Rahi during Sunday’s mass sermon (NNA)
Patriarch Rahi during Sunday’s mass sermon (NNA)
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Lebanon’s Rahi Warns Against Obstructing Legislative, Presidential Elections

Patriarch Rahi during Sunday’s mass sermon (NNA)
Patriarch Rahi during Sunday’s mass sermon (NNA)

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi slammed on Sunday the cabinet paralysis, accusing certain politicians of seeking to obstruct Lebanon’s legislative and presidential elections scheduled for next year.

Lebanon's cabinet has not met since Oct. 12 amid a row over a probe into the 2020 deadly Beirut port blast.

In his Sunday sermon in Bkirki, Rahi said: "The state cannot operate without an executive authority.” He rejected a government that paralyses itself.

Rahi also warned against a plan for capital control that leads to citizens losing the rest of their bank deposits under the pretext of distributing losses.

Addressing the socio-economic crises, Rahi described the situation as “catastrophic.”

Also, the patriarch touched on the issue of Palestinian refugees, criticizing the latest decision of the Labor Minister to allow Palestinians to work in Lebanon.

Rahi considered the Minister’s decision as contradicting the constitution, which rejects the naturalization of Palestinians.



Israeli Strike in Syria Kills 5 Soldiers

People fleeing from Lebanon arrive on the Syrian side of the border with Lebanon in Jdeidat Yabus in southwestern Syria on September 25, 2024. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
People fleeing from Lebanon arrive on the Syrian side of the border with Lebanon in Jdeidat Yabus in southwestern Syria on September 25, 2024. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
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Israeli Strike in Syria Kills 5 Soldiers

People fleeing from Lebanon arrive on the Syrian side of the border with Lebanon in Jdeidat Yabus in southwestern Syria on September 25, 2024. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
People fleeing from Lebanon arrive on the Syrian side of the border with Lebanon in Jdeidat Yabus in southwestern Syria on September 25, 2024. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)

An overnight Israeli airstrike on a military site in the area of Kfar Yabous in Syria near the border with Lebanon killed five Syrian army soldiers and injured another, Syrian state news agency SANA reported Friday, citing an unnamed military official.

Israel's military did not immediately acknowledge the strike. Israel regularly targets military sites in Syria and facilities linked to Iran and the Lebanon’s Hezbollah but rarely acknowledges them.

Those strikes have become more frequent as Hezbollah has exchanged fire with Israeli forces for the past 11 months against the backdrop of Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Tens of thousands of Lebanese and Syrians have fled across the border from Lebanon into Syria since the beginning of the week amid intense Israeli bombardment that Israel says is targeting Hezbollah fighters and weapons. The strikes have killed an estimated 700 people to date, including at least 150 women and children.