Smoke over Kfar Hammam in southern Lebanon after an Israeli strike on August 17, 2024. (Photo: AFP / Rabih Daher)
BEIRUT — The fate of the residents of South Lebanon and the situation along the Blue Line once again sparked an exchange of statements on Sunday between Maronite Patriarch Béchara Raï and Jaafari Mufti Ahmad Kabalan, a Hezbollah ally, as the civilian death toll in southern localities exceeded one hundred this weekend.
At the summer patriarchal residence in Dimane (North Lebanon), Cardinal Rai mentioned at the beginning of the Sunday mass that he had received "letters" from residents of the South describing the "catastrophic conditions" they are enduring due to the "war."
"Our fellow citizens are divided in this situation: some have been forced to flee, while others remain to protect their properties and face all the hardships," he stated. He further emphasized that as a new round of negotiations is underway, led by American, Qatari, and Egyptian mediators to achieve a truce in Gaza, "it is essential to elect a President of the Republic" in Lebanon, criticizing the "inaction of the legislative branch."
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The near-daily cross-border exchange of fire between Hezbollah and Israel which begun on October 8, 2023, the day after the war in Gaza began, has displaced more than 100,000 people, according to a recent UN report, and resulted in 573 deaths. Among these victims, at least 106 are civilians.
"There is no catastrophe in southern Lebanon," says Kabalan
Responding to Patriarch Raï's remarks, Sheikh Kabalan stated in a communiqué that "the residents of the South do not need anyone's approval" and that they place "the interests of Lebanon" at the center of their concerns. "There is no catastrophe in the South, but honor, glory, and sacrifices worthy of Lebanon's dignity." He added that "what the residents of the South contribute to Lebanon surpasses a thousand years of sovereignty, nationalism, pride, honor, and glory." Kabalan, who is closely associated with allies, Amal and Hezbollah, asserted that the displacement of the population "is part of the battle for sovereignty."
Addressing Rai's criticism of the legislative branch, Ahmad Kabalan argued that "the Parliament's legislative capacity revolves around national necessities," amid ongoing controversy over the Parliament's legislative role in the absence of a President of the Republic. Some political parties maintain that Parliament should currently function solely as an electoral assembly, a stance that hasn't prevented the Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri, head of the Amal movement, from convening deputies multiple times over the past few months. "Nabih Berri is the key to Parliament and has the experience to determine what constitutes a national necessity," he said.
For his part, Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Beirut Elias Audi, in his Sunday sermon, urged Lebanese leaders, "if they truly love their country," to show "humility, loyalty, and unite around the idea of a state, working towards its establishment."
