Hariri Voices Dismay over U.S. Jerusalem Move, Geagea Slams 'Massacre'
Lebanese leaders on Monday reacted to Washington's inauguration of its deeply controversial embassy in Jerusalem and to Israel's killing of dozens of Palestinian protesters on Gaza's border.
In a statement, Hariri expressed “Lebanon's extreme dismay over the decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.”
“After the anniversary of Palestine's Nakba (catastrophe) on May 15, the U.S. administration is declaring May 14 as another calamitous day,” Hariri added.
The premier warned that the U.S. move “puts all peace tracks in the region in the face of a dead end.”
“I express deep regret over a decision that infuriates millions of Arabs, Muslims and Christians and that leads to aggravating violence and giving Israelis the freedom to shed the blood of more innocent Palestinians, not to mention that it will exacerbate the extremism that has started to threaten the entire international community and its countries and peoples,” Hariri added.
He also cautioned that “this provocative step aggravates the conflict, acts of oppression and the horrible bloody massacres that Israel is committing against the Palestinian people,” urging the international community to “move quickly to put an end to these appalling atrocities and to help the Palestinians in their endeavor for the rise of an independent Palestinian state with Holy Jerusalem as its capital.”
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea meanwhile said he strongly condemns “all the ongoing incidents in West Bank and Gaza from the use of live rounds against protesters to the dropping of incendiary grenades on them, which has resulted in the death of dozens and the wounding of hundreds.”
“We stress the need for the international community to intervene immediately to put an end to the massacre that is being committed against the Palestinian people which is demanding its right to just and comprehensive peace on the basis of a two-state solution,” Geagea added.
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat meanwhile likened the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem to Britain's 1917 “occupation of Jerusalem,” the 1948 creation of Israel, the 1967 occupation of the West Bank and the ongoing construction of settlements.
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