The Jaafarite mufti Ahmad Qabalan. (Credit: NNA)
The Jaafarite Mufti Ahmad Qabalan, who is close to Hezbollah, criticized Lebanese authorities Saturday over their handling of recent U.S.-sponsored negotiations with Israel, accusing them of aligning with Washington against the “resistance” and pushing Lebanon toward sectarian strife and possible civil conflict, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Commenting on the announced results of direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel under U.S. sponsorship, he said: “Regardless of our lack of trust in the current authority, which was installed by the American sponsor deeply involved in supporting terrorist Israel, it is certain that this authority cares about nothing in Lebanon except political positions."
Qabalan continued that had Lebanon "truly mattered to it, we would have found the authority and its backers on the southern front and in all arenas of sovereignty and national confrontation.”
“I say this aside from the policies and plans adopted by this authority to financially, socially and security-wise suffocate the South, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the Bekaa through every possible means,” he added. “For this authority, Lebanon is merely a sardine can or a hotel for political investment. The story of a homeland, Lebanese partnership and coexistence is the biggest lie in this country’s history. Today, we are faced with official declarations endorsed by the American sponsor and the Lebanese authority, concluding that the Lebanese state is purchasing security from terrorist Israel at the expense of Lebanon’s civil peace.”
Qabalan insisted that “the greater danger lies in the Lebanese authority’s silent approval to Washington to open a security track between the Israeli army and the Lebanese Army, with the objective of disarming the resistance and preventing any sovereign force that conflicts with Israel’s dominance and ambitions in Lebanon and the region.”
Lebanon and Israel agreed to extend their cease-fire, which was set to expire Sunday, by 45 days, the U.S. State Department announced Friday following a second day of direct talks between Lebanese and Israeli delegations in Washington.
These talks involve potential parallel security and political tracks aimed at permanently resolving border disputes and defining lasting security arrangements. Separate Pentagon-led military negotiations would potentially involve delegations from both the Israeli army and the Lebanese Armed Forces to “establish firm security mechanisms along the shared border,” according to the statement released after Friday’s meeting.
Qabalan said “the announcements in this regard are complete, clear and leave no room for doubt. We trust the leadership of the Lebanese Army not to drag the army into this destructive game despite the madness of the Lebanese authority. According to the announced plans, we are now facing an authority that is bypassing its national responsibilities and placing the country at the center of what will likely be a regional explosion.”
Qabalan warned that the current situation threatens Lebanon with “political liquidation,” saying: “Israel negotiates with fire and destruction, while the Lebanese authority negotiates by counting airstrikes, inciting against the resistance and its supporters, and completely abandoning the people of the South, the southern suburbs and the Bekaa.”
He added that this “places us before a sectarian crisis reminiscent of Lebanon’s most dangerous periods and raises the specter of internal strife and civil war projects.”
He further claimed that some Lebanese officials are “inciting America and Israel against the people of the South, the southern suburbs and the Bekaa,” accusing them of seeking to eliminate what he described as “the national fighting force.”
Referring to U.S. military support for the Lebanese Army, he said: “The commander of U.S. Central Command, General Michael Kurilla, clearly stated that the main objective behind supporting the Lebanese Army is confronting Hezbollah. This means confronting the entire Shiite community, because Hezbollah and Amal together represent the Shiite sect in Lebanon.”
He argued that the proposed security coordination between Lebanon and Israel under American sponsorship could lead to a devastating internal conflict: “Any war of this kind would be existential and would not remain confined within Lebanon’s borders.”
Qabalan also warned that: “When the state turns against the interests of its people and the security of its borders, it ceases to be a state. History proves that threatened communities will not surrender themselves to slaughter.”
The talks, led on the Lebanese side by former ambassador Simon Karam, are being denounced as a “plot” by Hezbollah, which continues to fight against Israeli forces occupying part of southern Lebanon.
