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Al-Hariri: Lebanon in danger as Hezbollah fights in Syria

July 19, 2014 at 2:34 pm

Former Lebanese Prime Minister and head of Future Party Sa’d al-Hariri said on Friday that Lebanon is in danger as Hezbollah continues to fight in Syria.

In a televised speech he delivered during an Iftar gathering for his party, he criticised the international silence towards “Israeli massacres” of the Palestinian people.

“It is difficult to isolate Lebanon from danger as long as Hezbollah is fighting in Syria,” he said. “Our national responsibility obligates us not to surrender to this reality and to avoid falling in the abyss,” he added.

Hezbollah has candidly been fighting beside the Syrian regime since the start of last year.

Regarding internal Lebanese issues, Al-Hariri said that Lebanon is in urgent need of a roadmap that prioritises national interests and stability over individual interests and other alliances. “We need parliamentary elections not extensions,” he said.

He believes the new roadmap must be built on electing a new president and new government for the country that take responsibility for “running the current stage and facing the challenges.”

The terms of Al-Hariri’s roadmap include: the withdrawal of Hezbollah from Syria, preparing an emergency plan to face terrorism, agreement on an official emergency plan to cope with Syrian refuges in Lebanon and carrying out parliamentary elections based on law terms.

Regarding the Palestinian issue he said: “The Palestinians are now facing a lethal aggressive offensive, while the international community is just observing the new invasion from afar without initiating any effort to stop the massacre.”

He called for stopping the aggression and finding a way for the Palestinians to establish their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Al-Hariri stressed that the international community, which afford cover for the Israeli aggression, is “morally and from a humanitarian view responsible for Israeli crimes in Gaza.”

Israel began a massive war on Gaza on 7 July. It has killed over 300 Palestinians and wounded more than 2,000.

According to the initial statistics from the housing and public work ministry, Israel has completely destroyed over 600 houses and partially destroyed over 14,000.

OCHA said on Thursday that more than 96,000 Palestinians in Gaza are in need of shelters after they were displaced when Israel destroyed their houses.