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Lebanon’s Rahi Warns of Coup Against Results of Parliamentary Elections

Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rahi (NNA)
Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rahi (NNA)
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Lebanon’s Rahi Warns of Coup Against Results of Parliamentary Elections

Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rahi (NNA)
Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rahi (NNA)

Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rahi warned Sunday of a coup against the results of the May 15 parliamentary vote, cautioning that some parties might use the security and economic turmoil in the country to control the upcoming election of a Speaker and President.

Presiding over Sunday mass in Bkirki, Rahi said the parliamentary elections gave new hopes to the people on possible change in the country that would encourage the international community to help Lebanon seriously, not symbolically, to get out of its economic crisis.

However, the Patriarch expressed concern over the return of the fuel crisis, the lack of medicine and bread, the rising commodity prices and the manipulation of the dollar peg.

"Wasn’t the opposite supposed to happen?" Rahi asked.

He said this suspicious development in the aftermath of the elections confirms once again that certain parties want to disrupt the new reality imposed by the polls and the movement for political change.

Iran-backed Hezbollah and its allies have lost their majority in Lebanon's parliament in the general election. The Shiite party’s opponents including the Christian Lebanese Forces gained ground.

“The significance of the forces winning the majority is not in the number of their representatives, but in their ability to form homogeneous, united and multi-sectarian parliamentary blocs that respect the principles of sovereignty, independence, neutrality and decentralization,” the Patriarch said.

As of May 22, after the current assembly's mandate expires, the new lawmakers will have 15 days to pick a speaker, a position Nabih Berri has held since 1992 and is not intent on leaving despite reaching the age of 84.

The Patriarch said electing a new parliament is the beginning of a crucial stage on which Lebanon’s future and the shape of the Lebanese state depend.

He added that Lebanon will have to face important stages that begin with the election of a Speaker, the formation of a national government and the election of a new President.

Therefore, Rahi said that winning the parliamentary elections is not the end of the struggle, rather its beginning.

“We call on all citizens, especially those who believe in positive change, national sovereignty, the unity of arms, neutrality, and decentralization, to be vigilant and ready to confront the attempts to sidestep the popular will,” the Patriarch stressed.

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UN Food Agency Says Its Food Stocks in Gaza Have Run out under Israel’s Blockade

A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)
A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)
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UN Food Agency Says Its Food Stocks in Gaza Have Run out under Israel’s Blockade

A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)
A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)

The World Food Program says its food stocks in the Gaza Strip have run out under Israel’s nearly 8-week-old blockade, ending a main source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the territory.

The WFP said in a statement that it delivered the last of its stocks to charity kitchens that it supports around Gaza. It said those kitchens are expected to run out of food in the coming days.

Some 80% of Gaza’s population of more than 2 million relies primarily on charity kitchens for food, because other sources have shut down under Israel’s blockade, according to the UN. The WFP has been supporting 47 kitchens that distribute 644,000 hot meals a day, WFP spokesperson Abeer Etefa told the Associated Press.

It was not immediately clear how many kitchens would still be operating in Gaza if those shut down. But Etefa said the WFP-backed kitchens are the major ones in Gaza.

Israel cut off entry of all food, fuel, medicine and other supplies to Gaza on March 2 and then resumed its bombardment and ground offensives two weeks later, shattering a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. It says the moves aim to pressure Hamas to release hostages it still holds. Rights groups have called the blockade a “starvation tactic” and a potential war crime.

Israel has said Gaza has enough supplies after a surge of aid entered during the ceasefire and accuses Hamas of diverting aid for its purposes. Humanitarian workers deny there is significant diversion, saying the UN strictly monitors distribution. They say the aid flow during the ceasefire was barely enough to cover the immense needs from throughout the war when only a trickle of supplies got in.

With no new goods entering Gaza, many foods have disappeared from markets, including meat, eggs, fruits, dairy products and many vegetables. Prices for what remains have risen dramatically, becoming unaffordable for much of the population. Most families rely heavily on canned goods.

Malnutrition is already surging. The UN said it identified 3,700 children suffering from acute malnutrition in March, up 80% from the month before. At the same time, because of diminishing supplies, aid groups were only able to provide nutritional supplements to some 22,000 children in March, down 70% from February. The supplements are a crucial tool for averting malnutrition.

Almost all bakeries shut down weeks ago and the WFP stopped distribution of food basics to families for lack of supplies. With stocks of most ingredients depleted, charity kitchens generally can only serve meals of pasta or rice with little added.

World Central Kitchen -- a US charity that is one of the biggest in Gaza that doesn’t rely on the WFP -- said Thursday that its kitchens had run out of proteins. Instead, they make stews from canned vegetables. Because fuel is scarce, it dismantles wooden shipping pallets to burn in its stoves, it said. It also runs the only bakery still functioning in Gaza, producing 87,000 loaves of pita a day.

The WFP said 116,000 tons of food is ready to be brought into Gaza if Israel opens the borders, enough to feed 1 million people for four months.

Israel has leveled much of Gaza with its air and ground campaign, vowing to destroy Hamas after its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. It has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, whose count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

In the Oct. 7 attack, gunmen killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251. They still hold 59 hostages after most were released in ceasefire deals.