Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai insisted on Thursday on the need to “organize a spiritual summit to unify the Lebanese position” concerning the situation. “This meeting would instill confidence in the Lebanese people, who currently find it challenging to look toward new horizons,” he conveyed to a delegation from the Shiite Higher Council.
In this context, Bkirki spokesman Walid Ghayad told the Al-Markaziya agency that the Patriarch “will participate in the summit wherever it is held.”
Rai also stated that the ongoing conflict in Gaza aims to “terminate the Palestinian cause and prevent Palestinians from asserting their rights. However,” he emphasized, “this cause will not perish because the law takes precedence over everything else.”
Finally, the Patriarch expressed his intention to reach out to the head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, Mohammad Raad, whose son was killed in an Israeli raid on Wednesday night, to extend his condolences.
Vice-Chairman of the Shiite Supreme Council Sheikh Ali Khatib criticized UNIFIL, stating that it “merely reports Israeli attacks on Lebanon without the UN Security Council taking any action” against the Hebrew state. He also called on everyone to close ranks in the current context.
