Resolution 1701 advocacy: Maronite Patriarchs appeal for border towns protection

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The Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi emphasized that "since the beginning of Israel's war on Gaza in the brutal manner we have witnessed, we considered it a genocidal war against the Palestinian people, a liquidation of their cause, and the least of it is repetition."

"We call for adherence to Resolution 1701 by both the Israeli and Lebanese sides to protect the southern border towns from bombing, killing, displacement, and destruction," he said.

In his Sunday sermon, the Patriarch affirmed that "we have never stopped demanding a permanent ceasefire and the pursuit of negotiations, political and diplomatic solutions to establish the two-state solution."

He reminded that "the decision to establish a separate Palestinian state alongside Israel dates back to Resolution 181 issued by the United Nations General Assembly on November 29, 1947. This resolution divided Palestine into two states, a Hebrew state, and an Arab state, and delineated the borders of these states."

Al-Rahi continued: "However, the Palestinian state has not been formed to this day. Nevertheless, international efforts call for its establishment in what is known as the 'two-state solution.'"

Al-Rahi pointed out that "everyone knows that it is a fundamental condition to end the ongoing war in Palestine," emphasizing that "Lebanon is expected to play the role of a political and diplomatic mediator according to its message."

Furthermore, he said: "It cannot fulfill this duty as long as it is deprived of a head of state and has lost its neutrality by involving itself in regional wars and conflicts it does not want."

Maronite Patriarch added: "Deprived of a Lebanese president, the intentions were revealed through the results of the vacuum: transforming Lebanon in practice from a state that separates religion from the state to a sectarian religious state, as witnessed in general appointments and particularly in the judiciary, where those in power surpass it and intervene politically, violating the separation of powers contrary to the constitution, and hindering the course of justice."