Today, Tajadod Bloc was honored to visit His Eminence Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian as part of a series of meetings, visits, and consultations that the Bloc will be conducting in light of the grave developments unfolding in the region and in Lebanon. We regard Dar al-Fatwa as a major national authority that has long served, and continues to serve, as a guarantor of Lebanon, its sovereignty, its state institutions, and the unity of its people.

From this esteemed institution, we reaffirm the positions announced by the Bloc in rejecting the war in Gaza and the war waged against it. We remain committed to humanitarian values that reject the killing of children, women, and innocent civilians, as well as attacks on hospitals and holy sites, including mosques and churches. In keeping with the spirit of Dar al-Fatwa’s positions, we reaffirm our steadfast and continued support for the Palestinian people’s cause. The time has come for them to obtain their legitimate rights and establish their independent state on the basis of land for peace, international resolutions, and the two-state solution endorsed by the Arab Peace Initiative announced in Beirut in 2002. Israel has obstructed this path by every means over the decades, leaving the Palestinian people exposed to an unprecedented campaign of extermination and persecution.

From this institution, we emphasize our support for Arab and international efforts to protect civilians and ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. We call on the international community to make every effort and exert every possible pressure to achieve a just and comprehensive resolution of the Palestinian cause, one that restores the Palestinian people’s legitimate rights and enables them to live in security and dignity. The two-state solution is the genuine gateway to lasting stability in the region and to the triumph of peace over hatred, moderation over extremism, and security and development over war and bloodshed. It is also in Lebanon’s strategic interest, as the establishment of an independent Palestinian state would facilitate the establishment of a sovereign, law-based state in Lebanon.

In light of these longstanding principles regarding the Palestinian cause, we affirm that our national responsibility requires us to unite the Lebanese around the priority of protecting Lebanon. The time has come to reassess our history and learn from past experiences, including the cost of our divisions and of wars waged by others on our soil.

Today, we face an imminent existential threat, in the absence of an effective state and amid the worst economic, social, and living conditions the Lebanese have endured. This demands that Lebanon come first and that we unite to protect it. Otherwise, we will have committed a fatal crime against ourselves, our homeland, and our children and young people.

Accordingly, we categorically reject dragging Lebanon into any adventure that could expose it to the heaviest losses in human lives, infrastructure, and property. We will not accept Lebanon being forced against the will of its people into becoming an arena for conflict. Our call today is to keep Lebanon militarily neutral from this devastating conflict. This means:

First: Restoring Lebanon’s sovereign decision-making authority, rejecting the delegation of this authority to any party, and preventing any foreign official from making decisions on Lebanon’s behalf.

Second: Immediately halting military operations and abandoning the so-called “rules of engagement” framework, which places Lebanon outside the constitutional and international framework. We reject allowing any armed group operating outside the state, whether Lebanese or non-Lebanese, to use the South as a platform for its own projects. We call for the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 and all related resolutions, and for entrusting the Lebanese Army alone with the mission of protecting Lebanon’s borders, preventing infiltration and violations of the Blue Line, and safeguarding southern Lebanon and the country as a whole against any aggression.

Tajadod Bloc, which represents diverse segments of Lebanese society, is issuing a powerful national call today to protect Lebanon before it is too late. The Bloc will undertake a series of consultations aimed at forging a unified Lebanese position centered on protecting Lebanon, keeping it militarily neutral, and restoring it to the framework of Resolution 1701, while also supporting the just cause of the Palestinian people.