Welcoming delegates to Lebanon, Aoun said the Red Cross represents far more than a humanitarian institution for Lebanese citizens, evoking the familiar image of ambulances reaching people in danger and volunteers responding without regard to region, sect or identity.
"This is the Lebanon we want: a Lebanon where human life stands above every consideration, and where humanity brings together what politics, wars and crises have divided," he said.
Aoun recalled the Lebanese Red Cross’s role through successive crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the August 4 Beirut port explosion, years of economic collapse and the current conflict. He said its teams had continued reaching displaced families and communities under bombardment, delivering humanitarian assistance to high-risk areas and contributing to work related to detainees, emergency response and rescue operations in coordination with the Lebanese Army, UNIFIL and the mechanism monitoring the cessation of hostilities.
He also paid tribute to Red Cross members killed while carrying out humanitarian duties, specifically naming Youssef Raymond Assaf and Hassan Ali Badawi, whom he said were killed during recent Israeli attacks. Aoun added that 13 Lebanese Red Cross paramedics and volunteers had been wounded while performing their duties.
"Even war has rules," Aoun said, stressing that international humanitarian law imposes clear obligations on all parties to a conflict and that "Israel is no exception."
He said protecting paramedics, medical and humanitarian personnel, ensuring their safe access to those in need and respecting the Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems were "not optional" but legal and humanitarian obligations.
"A paramedic must not become a target," he said.
Aoun noted that the Lebanese Red Cross’s work extends well beyond wartime emergencies, saying it provides more than one million services annually to Lebanese citizens and residents through emergency medical services, blood services, primary healthcare, relief operations, psychological support and family reunification.
Drawing on his experience as former Army commander and now president, Aoun told Red Cross volunteers that they deserved, like the Army, the motto "Honor, Sacrifice, Loyalty."
He also highlighted what he described as one of the Lebanese Red Cross’s greatest achievements: public trust. In a country long marked by divisions, he said, citizens who see the Red Cross emblem know that assistance has arrived, regardless of the identity or background of those providing it.
"This trust was not built through speeches," Aoun said. "It was built through work, neutrality, competence and sacrifice."
Addressing volunteers directly, Aoun said their arrival at the scene of an emergency may be one mission among hundreds for them, but for an injured person awaiting help, "you are, at that moment, all the hope that remains."
He stressed that gratitude alone was insufficient, saying the state has a duty to protect the Red Cross’s mission, strengthen its capabilities and help ensure the continuity of its services, while preserving Lebanon’s culture of volunteerism for future generations.
Aoun concluded by calling on Lebanese citizens and Lebanon’s international partners to support the Lebanese Red Cross "as it has always stood by you," ending with a tribute to the humanitarian mission of the Red Cross and Red Crescent and to Lebanon.