Lebanon’s Rahi: Some Parties Disrupt Dialogue

Lebanon’s Patriarch  Beshara Rahi (NNA)
Lebanon’s Patriarch Beshara Rahi (NNA)
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Lebanon’s Rahi: Some Parties Disrupt Dialogue

Lebanon’s Patriarch  Beshara Rahi (NNA)
Lebanon’s Patriarch Beshara Rahi (NNA)

Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rahi said Sunday that political parties ignoring Lebanon's basic principles would disrupt any future dialogue to save the country from its current crises.

“The success of any national dialogue, whether held under foreign patronage or an internal meeting, is linked to the recognition of these basic principles that do not need to be redefined on a daily basis,” the Patriarch said during Sunday’s mass.

Rahi had repeatedly called on Lebanese political parties to respect the principles of Lebanon’s sovereignty, independence, neutrality and decentralization.

On Sunday, he called for holding a dialogue, which he said is the only language that should exist among the Lebanese.

“It is not acceptable for political parties to view each other with hostility when the country is in dire need of reconciliation on clear national foundations that stem from Lebanon's principles,” he stressed.

Rahi said the Lebanese people are living in catastrophic conditions, referring to inflation, the lack of medication and the closure of schools, hospitals and universities, which increase the number of the unemployed.

He also referred to the high rates of poverty, illiteracy, emigration, and the increase in the number of refugees and displaced persons.



Gaza Rescuers Say 72 Killed by Israeli Fire

Smoke billows after an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on June 19, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Smoke billows after an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on June 19, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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Gaza Rescuers Say 72 Killed by Israeli Fire

Smoke billows after an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on June 19, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Smoke billows after an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on June 19, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli fire killed at least 72 people in the Palestinian territory on Thursday, including 21 who had gathered to receive aid in central and southern Gaza.

Updating an earlier figure, civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP the death toll had risen to 72, "due to the ongoing Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip since dawn today -- 21 of them were waiting for aid.”

The Israeli army told AFP that troops had fired "warning shots" at "suspects" approaching them in the Netzarim area where the civil defense agency said 15 people were killed waiting for aid, but that it was "not aware of any injured individuals.”