Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rai said in a press interview that “wars have proven their futility, and the language of dialogue and negotiation is the true opposite of the logic of wars,” calling for “adopting this approach to exclude the logic of violence and put it aside.” Al-Rahi affirmed his adherence to the language of negotiation and dialogue as the only approach to ending the conflict, stressing several national constants, especially “supporting the language of negotiation and dialogue at the expense of the language of war,” declaring that he “supports negotiation and strongly calls for an immediate cessation of the ongoing war.” He called on the Lebanese, “especially the group directly involved in the confrontation, to exit the war and remove the country from it, so that everyone is under the roof of the state and within its confines, because the state is the unifying reference for all the Lebanese.” He pointed out that "the destruction carried out by Israel is not surprising, but the responsibility and blame fall on the Lebanese themselves, so that they all come together to protect and preserve their country under the banner of Lebanese institutions and legitimacy." He stressed that he looks "with great sympathy at those who were forced to leave their homes and migrate to public schools and shelter centers, and that his heart is with the threatened towns and villages, and with the extent of the widespread destruction that has afflicted the country," wondering: "Who will later assume responsibility for compensation and reconstruction in light of the entire region's involvement in the furnace of war?" Al-Rai also stressed that he does not fear for “the Lebanese entity, the entity of the Greater Lebanon State that emerged in 1920,” considering that “the Lebanese need each other,” and expressing his confidence in “the state and the awareness of the leadership.” Regarding the role of the Lebanese Army, Al-Rahi said: “No one knows the army better than its commander, and the army does everything necessary within its capabilities and abilities, and it works to preserve national unity and prevent a slide into internal strife.”