Lebanese cleric says direct talks with Israel are pointless

Sheikh Khatib, a senior Lebanese cleric, has said that the Lebanese government's direct talks with Israel are 'pointless', warning that surrendering to the Zionist regime would lead to destruction. He made the remarks in a statement reported by Mehr News Agency.

Sheikh Khatib said, 'Surrender to the Zionist regime implies heading towards destruction. Israel is actually the enemy of Palestinian life in Gaza and the West Bank.' He added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that Israel will not withdraw its forces from Gaza or implement the so-called peace agreements unless Hezbollah and Hamas disarm. 'If, God forbid, the resistance groups relinquish their weapons, ordinary people will be massacred and slaughtered,' he warned.

The cleric noted that while Lebanese authorities have declared they would engage in direct negotiations with Israel to restore security and peace so that residents of southern Lebanon can return to their homes, Israeli officials have announced they would not withdraw from occupied Lebanese areas. He emphasized that Palestinians were massacred in their own villages and vicious atrocities were committed against them when they were forced to hand over their weapons before 1947.

Sheikh Khatib also questioned the effectiveness of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted in 2006, saying that Israel did not comply with it and continued its aggression, killing more than 500 people over the course of 15 months. He further stated that the Israeli military has destroyed and bulldozed villages in southern Lebanon, covering a vast swathe of land from the Khiam region to Naqoura. 'These villages, which were once vibrant with their residents and buildings, have been reduced to ruins, and destroyed due to round-the-clock explosions,' he said.

Sheikh Khatib argued that officials do not acknowledge the fact that Israel does not intend to implement the ceasefire agreement, and simply says one thing but does another. He noted that there is an internal and Arab collusion with Israel, as certain Lebanese political factions and some Arab countries' regimes are against Hezbollah and the regional resistance groups, because the latter have thwarted their normalization schemes.

Finally, Sheikh Khatib lambasted the Lebanese government's efforts to distance itself from Hezbollah, characterizing such attempts as 'naive and stupid.' 'The main purpose of these attempts is to support Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, help Israel, and give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a higher chance of winning the forthcoming election,' he concluded. According to Mehr News Agency, Sheikh Khatib made these remarks in a recent statement.