On the feast of the great Maronite saint, Patriarch al-Rahi said that the use of force is the prerogative of the state. A musical event was cancelled in solidarity with the 14 victims of the collapse of a building in the north. A three-year-old child was also killed in the latest attack by the Jewish state.
Amidst general silence, the cradle of Christianity is being emptied of its Christian population. Communities are now ultra-minorities. Vincent Gelot, representative in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan for the NGO, is launching a campaign to root the faithful in the land of their ancestors. Their disappearance is also a loss for the West and for the confessional mosaic of which they are a part.
The latest settler attacks in Palestinian areas include uprooted olive groves, torched cars, insults sprayed on the walls of houses, and attacks on students. “Attention only comes when there is a serious attack or a tragic event!” Father Bashar laments. However, “the situation is difficult for us every day.” Lebanon accuses Israel of spraying toxic substances on fields and farmland in its southern villages.
This issue is one of the most sensitive questions in the talks that began between the two sides after the November 2023 ceasefire. For Lebanon, this is a "diplomatic priority," but the Jewish state is not cooperating, as confirmed by the International Committee of the Red Cross. In the background lurk tensions in Iran and Hezbollah's threat to act alongside the Islamic Republic.
Diplomatic initiatives to rehabilitate the Lebanese state as a credible actor in matters of security, deterrence, and stability seek to correct unrealistic assessments of the possibility that the army alone can dismantle the pro-Iranian movement. Meanwhile, the south of the country is sinking into sad abandonment.
Alert in Lebanon over the wave of protests in the Islamic Republic. Institutional leaders and the population are closely following developments. Aoun's appeal to the Shiite movement: ‘From the logic of force to the force of logic’. Phase 2 of the disarmament plan is underway, while Israeli bombing continues.
