The Lebanese Ministry of Health has reported that at least 182 people have been martyred and 727 others injured, including women, children, and paramedics, due to Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon since Monday morning. This comes alongside the ongoing genocide in Gaza that has persisted since October 7, 2023.
In a statement, al-Qaradaghi emphasized that Lebanon and Gaza should not be easy prey for this blatant aggression against the people and land, urging a unified stance against the actions of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist government.
He added that what is happening is part of Netanyahu’s and his far-right government’s policy to expand Israel to include Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, and parts of Lebanon and Jordan.
Al-Qaradaghi further said that “our disagreement with the partisan policies of some Lebanese or Palestinian parties does not give us the right to support any aggression targeting the peoples. We should not rejoice at the suffering of the Lebanese or Palestinian people under any pretext.”
He stressed, “We must not leave Lebanon or Gaza as easy targets for attack and division over sectarian or political disagreements. The enemy does not distinguish between Muslims in their collective extermination; anyone who is not with them is against them and antisemite.”
The head of the Union of Muslim Scholars made it clear that “this aggression is a blatant attack, and Muslims and their governments must work to prevent it. As the president of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, I call on our Islamic and Arab nations to fulfill their duty in the face of the Israeli aggression and genocide.”
Al-Qaradaghi believes that Arabs and Muslims have many cards to play, “including announcing the cessation of oil and gas supplies until the aggression stops, as well as political and economic boycotts of the Zionist entity and severing diplomatic relations.”
Meanwhile, the Deputy Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, confirmed that the party has entered a new phase following the assassination of 15 leaders and fighters from the Al-Ridwan force (Hezbollah’s elite force). Qassem emphasized that the Lebanese support front will not cease until the genocide in Gaza is ended.
Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have escalated since the assassination of Hezbollah military leader Fouad Shukr, with wireless communication device explosions last week increasing the likelihood of a wide confrontation.
Since October 8, 2023, the northern borders of occupied Palestine have witnessed intense tensions and daily exchanges of rocket fire between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has linked its cessation of attacks on Israel to the latter’s end of the genocide it has been conducting with US support against the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, which has resulted in over 137,000 martyrs and injured, 10,000 missing, and massive destruction of infrastructure and an precedented famine.
