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Lebanon’s Army Chief Vows to Safeguard Security

Lebanese Army Commander General Joseph Aoun (Army website)
Lebanese Army Commander General Joseph Aoun (Army website)
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Lebanon’s Army Chief Vows to Safeguard Security

Lebanese Army Commander General Joseph Aoun (Army website)
Lebanese Army Commander General Joseph Aoun (Army website)

Lebanon’s Army Chief vowed on Friday to safeguard the country’s security saying the military will never let “sedition and chaos infiltrate the internal arena.”

“We will never allow security to be shaken, we will never let sedition and chaos find a way into our internal arena, in the hope that political solutions capable of saving the country and preventing its collapse are reached,” said General Joseph Aoun in his Order of the Day marking the 77th Army Day.

The Army Chief said that Lebanese youth should regain their trust in their homeland which is in dire need of their capabilities and potential to rise again.

“Let the dream of rebuilding Lebanon be stronger than the dream of immigration,” he said.

Aoun’s name is being circulated as a presidential candidate to succeed President Michel Aoun whose term ends on October 31.

Addressing the military, Aoun added: “You live in exceptional circumstances, and you, like our people, suffer from the economic crisis that began about three years ago. This crisis, which worsened recently, led to paralysis in most of the state's sectors and institutions. This produced negative repercussions in various fields. Only the military institution is still cohesive and ready to assume its full responsibilities towards its homeland and its people with determination, will, and conviction.”

“Sacrifice is at the core of our motto,” stressed Aoun, adding that “no matter how harsh the circumstances and intense the challenges, the army will remain a pillar of Lebanon's structure.”

Citing Israeli threats against Lebanon and other challenges facing the country, Aoun urged the military to “remain ready to face all dangers: the Israeli enemy and its constant threats and ambitions in our natural resources on the one hand, and terrorism that is waiting for the chance to regain its activity on the other hand.

“We should not forget the danger that threatens our society and the future of our youth, which is drugs. The pursuit of its dealers and promoters will remain a priority,” emphasized Aoun.

"Our commitment to formal positions is imperative, especially the maritime border demarcation issue. Our commitment to international resolutions and strengthening cooperation with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon is an absolute necessity...What concerns us, is the cohesion of the institution and its continuity in performing its tasks, as well as the security and stability of Lebanon," he concluded.

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Gaza's Christians 'Heartbroken' for Pope Who Phoned them Nightly

A Palestinian woman walks outside the Holy Family Church after the death of Pope Francis was announced by the Vatican, in Gaza City April 21, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
A Palestinian woman walks outside the Holy Family Church after the death of Pope Francis was announced by the Vatican, in Gaza City April 21, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
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Gaza's Christians 'Heartbroken' for Pope Who Phoned them Nightly

A Palestinian woman walks outside the Holy Family Church after the death of Pope Francis was announced by the Vatican, in Gaza City April 21, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
A Palestinian woman walks outside the Holy Family Church after the death of Pope Francis was announced by the Vatican, in Gaza City April 21, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Members of Gaza's tiny Christian community said they were "heartbroken" on Monday at the death of Pope Francis, who campaigned for peace for the devastated enclave and spoke to them on the phone every evening throughout the war.

Across the wider Middle East, Palestinian, Lebanese and Syrian Christians, both Catholic and Orthodox, praised Francis' constant engagement with them as a source of solace at a time when their communities faced wars, disasters, hardship and persecution.

"We lost a saint who taught us every day how to be brave, how to keep patient and stay strong. We lost a man who fought every day in every direction to protect this small herd of his," George Antone, 44, head of the emergency committee at the Holy Family Church in Gaza, told Reuters.

Francis called the church hours after the war in Gaza began in October 2023, Antone said, the start of what the Vatican News Service would describe as a nightly routine throughout the war. He would make sure to speak not only to the priest but to everyone else in the room, Antone said.

"We are heartbroken because of the death of Pope Francis, but we know that he is leaving behind a church that cares for us and that knows us by name - every single one of us," Antone said, referring to the Christians of Gaza who number in the hundreds.

"He used to tell each one: I am with you, don't be afraid."

Francis phoned a final time on Saturday night, the pastor of the Holy Family parish, Rev. Gabriel Romanelli, told the Vatican News Service.

"He said he was praying for us, he blessed us, and he thanked us for our prayers," Romanelli said.

The next day, in his last public statement on Easter, Francis appealed for peace in Gaza, telling the warring parties to "call a ceasefire, release the hostages and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace".

'PEACE IN THIS LAND'

At the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, on the site where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected, the superior of the Latin community, Father Stephane Milovitch, said Francis had stood for peace.

"We wish that peace will finally come very soon in this land and we wish the next pope will be able to help to have peace in Jerusalem and in all the world," he said.

In Lebanon, where a war between Israel and Hezbollah caused widespread casualties and extensive damage last year, sending millions from their homes, members of the Catholic Maronite community spoke of Francis' frequent mentions of their plight.

"He's a saint for us because he carried Lebanon and the Middle East in his heart, especially in the last period of war," said a priest in the southern Lebanese town of Rmeish, which was badly damaged during Israel's military campaign last year.

"We always felt he was very involved and he mobilized all the Catholic institutions and funds to help Lebanon throughout the crises that we went through," said Marie-Jo Dib, who works at a social foundation in Lebanon.

"He was a rebel and I really pray that the next pope will be like him," she added.

Francis made repeated trips to the Middle East, including to Iraq in 2021 where he learned that two suicide bombers had attempted to assassinate him in Mosul, a once cosmopolitan city where the ISIS terror group proclaimed a so-called caliphate from 2014-17.

He visited the ruins of four destroyed churches there and launched an appeal for peace.

In Syria, Archbishop Antiba Nicolas said he was holding mass at the historic Damascus Zaitoun church when he was handed a slip of paper with the news.

"He used to say 'dearest Syria' every time he spoke of Syria. He called on all international organisations to support Syria, the Christian presence and the church in Syria during the crisis in the past years," Nicolas said.