Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch, Beshara al-Rahi, has called on Lebanese residents to remove all the rocket launchers from their homes in order to prevent Israel from launching a full-blown, devastating war against its northern neighbor.
“We demand the removal of any rocket launchpad planted between homes in the towns of the South that might draw a destructive Israeli response,” al-Rahi urged in his Sunday Mass sermon, the Lebanese Naharnet news outlet reported.
“Let everyone respect (United Nations) Security Council Resolution 1701 and all its articles for the sake of Lebanon’s welfare,” the Patriarch added.
Resolution 1701 was the ceasefire agreement that ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War between Israel and Iran’s Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah.
The Patriarch also expressed his regret over recent attacks by residents in southern Lebanon against UNIFIL peacekeeper forces, which he said were intended to make it more difficult for the forces in the region.
“We meanwhile repeat our gratitude for the countries contributing to these UN peacekeeping forces for preserving peace in the south,” the Patriarch said.
According to international Organization for Migration figures quoted by Naharnet, some 72,437 people in Lebanon have been displaced by the hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel that were launched by the Iranian proxy on October 8th.
At least 130 Hezbollah operatives and some 20 civilians have been killed in Lebanon in attacks by Israel in response to rocket fire, anti-tank missile fire and suicide drone attacks against Israeli civilians and military posts by Hezbollah.
The Iranian proxy’s attacks on Israel began one day after Gaza’s ruling Hamas terrorist organization invaded dozens of Israeli villages and military bases near the border with Gaza. Hamas-led terrorists and civilians who followed them into Israel tortured, beheaded, raped, mutilated, dismembered, burned alive and slaughtered more than 1,200 on October 7th, in addition to kidnapping another 250 people, dragging them into captivity in Gaza.
According to the United Nations, quoting local Gazans, about 70 percent of the buildings in the enclave have been damaged, nearly all of which contained weapons of war and/or terrorist infrastructure such as entrances to terror tunnels, as Israel Defense Forces continue to search for the hostages, eradicate the military capabilities of Hamas, and end its rule over Gaza.
