Dimensions of Pope Leo’s visit to Lebanon, Sudan conflict as test for building new state

The newspapers this morning highlighted the messages Pope Leo delivered during his visit to Lebanon and the broader implications of the trip, in addition to the ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel and the situation in Sudan.

Pope’s Visit to Lebanon: internal and external messages… and limited political impact

The Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported that a wide state of anticipation prevailed among Lebanese circles following the end of the Pope’s visit, noting his call on “the international community to support Lebanon and listen to the voice of the people who are demanding peace,” a theme he emphasized repeatedly during his meetings over the course of three days.

The newspaper explained that the visit carried two essential dimensions: an internal one, represented by a spiritual-political message addressed to Christians urging them to preserve their role in Lebanon without encroaching on the rights of other sects and an external one, reflecting the Vatican’s concern over the future of a country exhausted by conflicts and successive collapses. The Pope stressed that “Lebanese youth and the components of society” remain a resource capable of restoring life and stability.

The report added that the timing of the visit aligns with growing warnings about the decline of the Christian presence in the Middle East, noting that continued wars in Lebanon, Gaza, and Syria are driving further migration and threatening religious pluralism across the region.

Will the war between Israel and Hezbollah return?

The London-based newspaper Al-Arab discussed the likelihood of renewed confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah, noting that Israel “violated the ceasefire dozens of times” since the end of the previous war, while Hezbollah refrained from responding; a move the paper viewed as an Israeli attempt to drag the group into a new round of fighting.

The newspaper highlighted the widening “gap between Hezbollah and the Lebanese government,” given the party’s refusal to surrender its weapons, which according to the article, threatens to spark an internal conflict or another war with Israel. It added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is playing it cleverly”: he avoids a direct confrontation with Hezbollah for now, leaving the Lebanese government to face the dilemma of how to deal with the group.

The newspaper argued that the reason behind the escalation goes beyond Hezbollah’s or Hamas’s weapons, suggesting instead that “the real project” is pushing the region toward a path that serves the vision of “Greater Israel,” especially after the changes brought about by the recent war in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria, and Israel’s subsequent control over broad areas of land.

The dream of a new Sudan

In the Sudan file, Al-Bayan wrote that the conflict between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces is “the most explosive type of conflict, whose parties have decided to blow themselves up,” describing it as a struggle driven by “power and interests” more than ideological or intellectual differences.

The newspaper stressed that building a “New Sudan” requires a transition to democratic civilian rule based on equal citizenship, distancing the country from religious extremism, eliminating the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood, reducing the impact of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, and refraining from granting military bases to regional or international powers. It emphasized the need to end killings and assassinations based on identity or ethnicity and to work toward balanced development that includes all Sudanese regions.

A-H

ANHA