Pope Benedict XVI announced a special day of prayer for peace in the Middle East, and at the same time said Israeli, Palestinians and Lebanese all have soveriegn rights. This is the second time within four days that the 79-year old Pope has made an appeal for peace in the region.
"In reality, the Lebanese have the right to see the integrity and sovereignty of their country respected, the Israelis the right to live in peace in their State, and the Palestinians have the right to have their own free and sovereign homeland," a message from Pope Benedict read, as released by the Vatican Information Services on Thursday.
The Pontiff also called for an immediate cease-fire, the immediate establishment of humanitarian corridors to bring aid to the afflicted populations and the start of reasonable and responsible negotiations.
The Lebanese Red Cross has defined the situation of the displaced by the Israeli bombings as "catastrophic." The International Committee of the Red Cross is attempting to obtain the opening of a humanitarian corridor. According to the United Nations, around half million people have been displaced in Lebanon, with 306 people reported killed in Lebanon, and 29 in Israel, including 14 soldiers.
With that in mind, Benedict said he is making this Sunday, July 23 a special day of prayer and penitence, and invited the pastors and worshippers throughout the world to pray to God for the "precious gift of peace."
His Holiness also appealed to charity organizations to help all those who hurt by the conflict.
For its part, Israel resumed air raids earlier Thursday against the southern outskirts of Beirut, after a relatively calm night. The AP is reporting that Israeli ground troops have met fierce resistance from Hezbollah guerrillas as they crossed into Lebanon to seek tunnels and weapons for a second consecutive day. Israel has refused to rule out a full-scale invasion, the AP reports.
Wednesday was the bloodiest day since the start of the Israeli offensive nine days ago, with a toll of 70 Lebanese and 14 Palestinians killed, and 4 Israeli victims, including 2 soldiers and two children. The rise in the death toll is attributable to strikes conducted during the night by the Israeli airforce against some Lebanese border villages.
Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz has ordered the closing until Saturday of the Occupied Territories, where yesterday alone 10 Palestinians were killed, including civilians and Hamas militants.
A senior Syrian Red Crescent (SRC) official told IRIN that the aid organisation had established a direct telephone line to assist Lebanese nationals who are stuck without money or shelter. According to SRC head Abdul-Rahman Attar, some 20,000 Lebanese, Arab and other travellers traverse the four border crossings every day. Attar noted that the centers had received some 2,400 Lebanese nationals on Tuesday, most of whom were bussed into Syria with assistance from the government.
Relatedly, more than 10,000 Lebanese civilians have been blocked for days in the village of Rmeich, along the border with Israel, without electric power, telephone lines and almost no food supplies left in the supermarkets.
MISNA, IRIN and news agencies
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