Maronite Patriarch welcomes Lebanon-Israel framework

Maronite Patriarch Béchara Raï welcomed Sunday the framework agreement signed in Washington between Lebanon and Israel, while delivering a pointed warning that Lebanon must never become a bargaining chip in regional or international negotiations.

Speaking in his Sunday homily at the patriarchal summer residence of Dimane in northern Lebanon, Raï expressed cautious hope for the accord. "We welcome with hope any agreement or initiative that will end the cycle of violence and open the path to stability," he said, expressing the wish that ongoing efforts between Lebanon, the United States and Israel would "lead to a peace that preserves human dignity, safeguards national sovereignty and keeps our people away from the spectre of war."

But the patriarch drew a firm line: "Lebanon must not be the price of a regional or international agreement, nor become a stage for conflicts."

Raï also placed the agreement in a broader civilisational context, noting that preserving a free, sovereign and independent Lebanon was inseparable from preserving the free and active Christian presence in the Middle East, "not a question that concerns Christians alone, but the mission of all Lebanon."

The framework agreement, concluded on June 26, aims to end the war between Hezbollah and Israel, which continues to occupy a buffer zone of over 600 square kilometres in southern Lebanon. It has been welcomed by Hezbollah's opponents and categorically rejected by the Iran-backed militia and its Shia ally Amal.