View of the Dar al-Fatwa meeting in Beirut. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Dar al-Fatwa, Lebanon’s highest Sunni authority, on Saturday called for unity among the country’s three branches of power and urged the international community to pressure Israel to withdraw its forces from occupied Lebanese territories.
The appeal came as several issues continue to divide the political scene, most notably the question of expatriate voting in the upcoming legislative elections. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri recently criticized Prime Minister Nawaf Salam for “neglecting the South and its people.”
The statement called for “cohesion among the three branches of power, a national duty aimed at ensuring institutional unity and the stability of the country.” A meeting between President Joseph Aoun, Salam and Berri is expected soon to determine next steps following Aoun’s recent comments about the need to negotiate with Israel. Dar al-Fatwa did not take a position on that issue.
“The Sharia Council called on the international community to pressure the Zionist enemy to withdraw from occupied Lebanese territories and end its aggressions, which have reached their peak with deliberate bombings against UNIFIL,” the institution said in a statement carried by the state-run National News Agency following its regular meeting at its Beirut headquarters, chaired by Grand Mufti Abdel-Latif Derian.
Despite a cease-fire on Nov. 27, 2024, Israel continues to strike areas in southern Lebanon and northern Bekaa near-daily, including civilian targets and areas near U.N. peacekeeping convoys. On Oct. 12, an Israeli grenade wounded a peacekeeper near one of UNIFIL’s positions, the third such incident in recent weeks.
In this context, Dar al-Fatwa praised government and army efforts to enforce state sovereignty across all Lebanese territory. “The army alone is authorized to bear arms and to use them to defend national sovereignty, territory, people, and institutions,” the Sunni authority emphasized, in a statement seen as criticism of Hezbollah.
Dar al-Fatwa also stressed that the upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for May 2026, must be held “on time, without postponement, upholding transparency, freedom, democracy, and fairness, and free from corruption.” It added that “any modification of the draft electoral law must be approved by MPs and guarantee justice and fairness in the representation of all Lebanese in their diversity.”
The sensitive issue of expatriate voting, which has polarized the political scene for months, threatens to paralyze Parliament and raises concerns about either postponing the elections or holding them without diaspora participation.
The Sunni authority also welcomed recent joint Lebanese-Syrian efforts to restore “brotherly” relations based on “respect, sovereignty, and mutual interests,” following two visits by Syrian officials to Lebanon — including the first visit by Syrian Foreign Minister Assaad al-Chaibani since the fall of the Assad regime.
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