Rahi Calls on the United Nations to 'Save Lebanon'

 Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi called on the UN to hold an international conference on Lebanon. (NNA)
Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi called on the UN to hold an international conference on Lebanon. (NNA)
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Rahi Calls on the United Nations to 'Save Lebanon'

 Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi called on the UN to hold an international conference on Lebanon. (NNA)
Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi called on the UN to hold an international conference on Lebanon. (NNA)

Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi urged to the United Nations to save Lebanon by holding an international conference – a call that was supported by country’s opposition parties and rejected by Shiites.

“Faced with Parliament’s drastic failure to elect a new president of the republic, with the five sessions being a farcical drama...and the failure of all internal dialogues...we find no solution except to call for an international conference to renew the guarantee of the independent Lebanese entity, the democratic system and the state’s exclusive control over its lands, based on the constitution and then on all international resolutions pertaining to Lebanon,” the Patriarch said during the Sunday mass in Bkerki.

He continued: “Any delay in adopting this constitutional and international solution would drag the country into non-peaceful dangers that no party can withstand.”

Rahi’s call was endorsed by Hezbollah’s opponents. A letter signed by the Meeting of Our Lady of the Mountain, the National Gathering, and the National Initiative Movement, expressed support to the patriarch’s positions and called on Bkerki to establish a national front to defend the country’s “legitimacy, positive neutrality, the international conference for Taif and the constitution, and the resolutions of international legitimacy.”

On the other hand, Rahi’s sermon prompted a response from the Development and Liberation bloc, which is headed by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

Sources from the bloc told Asharq Al-Awsat: “The main problem in the presidential elections is between the Christians themselves.”

“Can Bkerki or any other Lebanese side play a consensual role or at least unify the vision and criteria… especially since the presidential elections… concern the Christians in the first place?” They asked.

For his part, Jaafari Mufti Ahmed Qabalan warned that an international conference would harm Lebanon’s sovereignty.

“The interest of Christians and Muslims is to agree on a national president through Parliament and implement a project for a strong state, national partnership and effective constitutional institutions, away from international stances that consider Lebanon… an arena for settlements,” he stated.



Israeli Strikes on Gaza Kill 15 People, Mostly Women and Children

Palestinians carry the bodies of those who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike, during their funeral in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians carry the bodies of those who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike, during their funeral in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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Israeli Strikes on Gaza Kill 15 People, Mostly Women and Children

Palestinians carry the bodies of those who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike, during their funeral in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians carry the bodies of those who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike, during their funeral in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli strikes overnight and into Sunday killed 15 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, according to local health officials.
Two of the strikes hit tents in the southern city of Khan Younis, each killing two children and their parents, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Another seven people were killed in strikes elsewhere, including a man and his child in a Gaza City neighborhood, according to hospitals and Gaza's Health Ministry.
Israel has sealed Gaza off from all imports, including food, medicine and emergency shelter, for over 10 weeks in what it says is a pressure tactic aimed at forcing Hamas to release hostages. Israel resumed its offensive in March, shattering a ceasefire that had facilitated the release of more than 30 hostages.
The UN and aid groups say food and other supplies are running low and hunger is widespread.
Children carrying empty bottles raced after a water tanker in a devastated area of northern Gaza on Sunday. Residents of the built-up Shati refugee camp said the water was brought by a charity from elsewhere in Gaza, The Associated Press reported. Without it, they rely on wells that are salty and often polluted.
“I am forced to drink salty water, I have no choice,” said Mahmoud Radwan. “This causes intestinal disease, and there's no medicine to treat it.”
COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs, says enough aid entered during a two-month ceasefire this year and that two of the three main water lines from Israel are still functioning. Aid groups say the humanitarian crisis is worse than at any time in the 19-month war.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 52,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants or civilians. The offensive has destroyed vast areas of the territory and displaced some 90% of its population of around 2 million.