The Patriarch of Antioch and the members of the Holy Synod to the President of Lebanontranslated

His Holiness the Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, Mr. John I and the members of the Holy Synod were welcomed today at the Presidential Palace in Beirut by the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun.  The course of wars can only be ended through negotiations and dialogue, said President Aoun, addressing the Hierarchs of the Patriarchate of Antioch, who initially referred to the country's ordeal from frequent attacks against it which result in hundreds of people paying the consequences of the war in blood.

"The main goal of the negotiation is to achieve the Israeli withdrawal from the populated areas, the release of prisoners, the return of the displaced, and the deployment of the army throughout Lebanon, and there is no disagreement in Lebanon about these goals, but the difference lies in the method and the way to achieve them," Joseph Aoun said of the goal to remove the Israeli troops who control areas of southern Lebanon.

He also reminded that every time southern Lebanon receives a blow, the entire state of Lebanon suffers while military operations…