Mourning on Saint Maron from collapse in Tripoli and Israeli raids in the south
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.
Beirut (AsiaNews) – Lebanon marked Saint Maron's Day on Monday amid a climate of crisis marked by security incidents in southern Lebanon and the tragedy of poverty and neglect in northern Lebanon.
The traditional Mass for Saint Maron (9 February) was celebrated at Saint George Cathedral in downtown Beirut, in the presence of President Joseph Aoun, Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rahi took the opportunity to reiterate the importance of reserving the use of force to the state, a recurring theme in this period of the country’s history.
On the instructions of President Aoun, events and military music planned for the celebration were cancelled, as a sign of solidarity with the 14 victims of Sunday's building collapse in the Sunni neighbourhood of Bab el-Tebbaneh in Tripoli, the capital of the North governorate.
The tragedy, the second since the start of the year, has provoked a mixture of grief and anger across the country. It serves as a reminder that no Lebanese government has yet put forward an economic and social plan capable of lifting the capital of the North out of its endemic underdevelopment.
According to journalist Hussein Ayoub, Tripoli has the highest rates of unemployment, poverty, and school dropouts in Lebanon. Long neglected in favour of Beirut, this regional capital nevertheless has a port and an oil refinery (currently out of service).
Meeting urgently after this tragedy, the government announced the upcoming evacuation of 114 buildings identified by the municipality as being in danger of collapse. The Maronite Archbishop of Tripoli, Youssef Soueif, and the Mufti of Tripoli decided to make vacant spaces in the city's private schools available for the temporary relocation of evacuated residents.
Overshadowed mourning ceremonies
Saint Maron festivities were overshadowed by the military situation in southern Lebanon and the local repercussions of the visit to the United States by the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, General Rodolphe Haykal. This visit is intended to pave the way for a conference in support of the army, to be held in Paris on 5 March.
In a context where Lebanon is too often pressured to fall in line, General Haykal, questioned by US Senator Lindsey Graham, refused to be intimidated and to define Hezbollah as a “terrorist organisation”. "Not in Lebanon," he replied laconically to the question.
This exchange abruptly ended the meeting between the two men and underscored the divergent approaches of Lebanon and the United States on how Hezbollah can and should be neutralised in Lebanon without civil unrest.
Similarly, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam's two-day tour of southern Lebanon (7-8 February) carried significant symbolic weight.
The aim of this visit was to show that the region is not Hezbollah's exclusive domain and that its reconstruction is a priority for the government, which will commit tens of millions of dollars from the World Bank to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure (electricity, roads, and telephone networks), despite the risks.
But in the aftermath of this visit, the Israeli army, as usual, brutally reminded the Lebanese of its presence. Fuelled by the belief that military superiority and firepower can subdue anything, Israel has claimed more victims in the targeting of a vehicle in front of the Yanouh municipal building.
The victims include the driver of the targeted car, a retired Lebanese army officer, as well as a father and his three-year-old child who were present at the scene. The two were the son and grandson of Yanouh mayor.
Israeli aggression was also demonstrated by the targeting of a municipal employee by a sniper (the man was taken to hospital but later died from his wounds), and the nighttime abduction in the village of Hebbariyeh of Jamaa Islamiya leader Atoui Islamiyah, taken in "for questioning", an Israeli army spokesman stated.
Jamaa Islamiya (JI) is the name the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood uses in Lebanon, which the US administration recently designated a “terrorist organisation”.
During the disastrous war of attrition against the Jewish state, launched unilaterally by Hezbollah in 2023-2024, JI launched isolated, symbolic raids against Israel in a show of solidarity with Hamas.
All these incidents maintain a state of tensions that prevents any lasting stability and condemns Lebanon to live in anxious anticipation of the next raid or escalation.
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10/03/2020 18:25
