Maronite Patriarch al-Rahi praises Lebanon-Israel ceasefire and calls for lasting peace

During Sunday mass, Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi expressed gratitude "for the U.S.-French decision to implement a 60-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon."

He said, "We hope this will lead to permanent peace," further praising the residents of Beirut's southern suburbs, Tyre, the South, Baalbek, and other areas, who immediately returned to their homes and regions.

"We thank everyone who welcomed them in their areas and facilitated their stay. We express our gratitude to the brotherly and friendly countries for their solidarity and the aid they sent, to the charitable institutions that dedicated themselves to serving them, to the Lebanese army that sacrificed some of its members, to the Civil Defense for its presence in facing the fires, and to the media community, some of whose members sacrificed their lives during their service," he noted. 

Al-Rahi hoped that "Lebanon and Israel will be able to implement the text of the ceasefire, with its thirteen provisions, as outlined in the understandings between the two countries, which the United States has specified for full implementation, both in text and spirit."