Dar al-Fatwa, Lebanon's highest Sunni authority, on Saturday said that "the election of a president of the republic requires dialogue between all the country's political components and parliamentary groups, in order to put an end to the spiral of blockages and accusations on both sides." The religious body added that it is important "to pursue efforts at local and international level to get Lebanon out of the impasse in which it finds itself."

At the end of a meeting chaired by Grand Mufti Abdel-Latif Derian, at its headquarters in Beirut, the body issued a press release deploring that Lebanon "has still not managed to elect a head of state despite internal, Arab and international initiatives and efforts."

The office of the president has been vacant in Lebanon since the end of President Michel Aoun's term on Oct. 31, 2022.

Dar al-Fatwa recalled that "the election of a president is a national affair," calling on members of Parliament "to assume their national responsibilities" and elect a new president.

The Sunni institution also spoke out against "the scale of Israeli aggression in southern Lebanon," denouncing "crimes against humanity encouraged by the silence of the international community."

Lastly, Dar al-Fatwa called for "the implementation of judicial measures issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ)" against Israel, including "arrest warrants for Zionist political, military and administrative officials responsible for genocide and crimes against humanity in Gaza."

This article was originally published in French on L'Orient-Le Jour.