A person is carried on a stretcher outside the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) as people, including Hezbollah fighters and doctors, were injured and killed when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, according to a security source, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sept. 17, 2024. (Credit: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)
Lebanon's grand mufti, Abdel-Latif Deriane, condemned Wednesday the Hezbollah pager attack that occurred yesterday, which was attributed to Israel and left more than a dozen dead and nearly 2,800 injured, according to the Health Ministry. He called on the international community to hold Israel "accountable before international criminal tribunals."
"This attack is a crime that defies sacred, human and moral values and violates international law," Lebanon's highest Sunni authority said.
"An attack on one Lebanese person affects all Lebanese, their security and their stability," he added. Expressing solidarity with the Shiite community, he urged for "solidarity and cooperation among all Lebanese," calling it a "national duty."
Calling the incident a "national catastrophe" for Lebanon, Deriane urged the international community "not to allow this grave aggression against the Lebanese to go unpunished" and to hold Israel "accountable before international criminal courts. Otherwise, international legitimacy will lose credibility in the eyes of the world."
Derinae also stressed that "in the face of criminal practices and those seeking to harm Lebanon, the only path for all Lebanese — Muslims and Christians — is to remain united."
Finally, he extended his condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.