The Mufti of the Republic Ahmad Kabalan. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Jaafarite Mufti Ahmad Qabalan on Wednesday marked the first anniversary of Israel’s deadly attack on Hezbollah pagers by declaring that “without the legendary resistance, Lebanon would not exist today.”
The Israeli operation killed 12 people, including two children and two caregivers and injured over 2,323, according to Health Ministry figures.
In a statement, Qabalan said the “shocking pager massacre” underscored “the crime of national abandonment by those who took over the state and the country without any gain for half a century.” He stressed that his position was not meant as “provocation or bravado, but as an affirmation of national unity, civil partnership and sovereign interest, and an unequivocal reminder to the state that, without the legendary resistance, Lebanon would not exist today.”
Qabalan added that “if solidarity with the brotherly state of Qatar is a partnership necessity, it is even more so with the people of Gaza, who are being massacred,” calling on the state to “assume its national responsibilities toward its people, its South, its resistance and its sovereign choice.”
“What happened with Qatar reveals the dangerous American game in the region, and nothing threatens Lebanon more than political hatred. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri represents a historic weight and a rare national capacity for reconciliation,” the mufti added.
His comments come after Israeli strikes targeted Hamas members in Qatar on Sept. 9 in Doha, killing five of the movement's members and a Qatari security officer.
On Tuesday, at an emergency Arab and Muslim summit in Doha, President Joseph voiced support for Qatar, and he reiterated Lebanon’s readiness for peace within the framework of the 2002 Arab Initiative centered on a two-state solution.
Qabalan concluded that “resistance is Lebanon’s strength and the source of its legendary resilience, and any mistake in political judgment threatens the country with extinction.”
