Israeli army resumes use of white phosphorus shells two days before Rome talks resume
Beirut - Mansour Shaaban
With each passing day, a new field development adds another item to the file of the seventh round of negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, sponsored by the United States and set to begin tomorrow, Tuesday, which coincides with the anniversary of the Beirut port explosion on August 4, 2020.
The latest field development occurred on Army Day, when a statement announced: “Five soldiers were slightly injured in the town of Kfar Kila - Bint Jbeil as a result of a hostile Israeli strike while accompanying a military mechanism with residents in the town.” However, the Army command later issued a statement clarifying that “as a result of an investigation conducted by the specialized unit, it was determined that the explosion was caused by a suspicious object.”
In the chronicle of Israeli aggression, the Israeli army also shelled the Ali al-Taher heights with phosphorus shells to ignite fires in the forests on the outskirts of southern Nabatieh.
Meanwhile, coinciding with the anniversary of the Army’s founding and the port explosion, Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Ra'i paid a tribute of loyalty, pride, and congratulations to the Lebanese Army, its leadership, officers, non-commissioned officers, and personnel, as well as to its martyrs, wounded, and their families. He stated: “Our army is our dignity and our pride. Through it, we grow and take pride. It is the shield of the homeland, the guardian of the land, and the guarantee of stability. It is the institution we always want to be strong, united, and capable of fulfilling its national mission.”
In a religious sermon, he added: “The homeland today needs a strong state with its institutions, a strong army with its unity and national creed, and a strong citizen with faith in his homeland. Al-Hawayek knew a time no less harsh than ours, yet he did not surrender. He did not say that Lebanon was over; rather, he believed in it and worked for it. This is the lesson we need today: we must not despair of a homeland that produced figures like Al-Hawayek.”
For his part, Metropolitan of Beirut for the Greek Orthodox Church, Bishop Elias Auad, said during a mass commemorating the victims of the port explosion: “Six years have passed, and the families of the victims still raise the same cry: Where is the truth? Who killed our sons? Who destroyed the capital? Who turned part of it into rubble that covered the bodies of their loved ones and buried their hopes? How can a state ask its people to trust it when it is unable or unwilling to tell the truth? How can justice remain justice if its voice is silenced or delayed whenever it approaches those with influence? We rely on the wisdom of the president of this beloved country, the determination of the head of his government, and the consciences of the remaining honorable individuals working under the rule of law, far from corruption and self-interest, to provide satisfying answers for hearts and souls.”
He added: “Six years have passed, and the sound of the explosion has not faded from the Lebanese conscience. The explosion did not end when the smoke cleared; the wound remains open. The recovery phase begins when the truth is declared. The explosion ends when its instigators are brought to justice. But if truth remains hostage to calculations, and justice is held hostage to interventions and interests, the crime remains alive in consciences, the wound continues to bleed, trust is absent, and hope for a strong, just state that fears only its Lord is extinguished. Obstructing justice is not an administrative error, but a moral and national sin.”
