Beirut - Followers of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah
and others from Hamas gathered Saturday in Beirut's southern suburbs,
a hotbed of Hezbollah, to show support for the people of Gaza after
Israel launched a massive attack on the strip.
'The people of Gaza are not alone...the coming days will show you
this,' said Hezbollah politburo member Sheikh Hashem Safieddine.
He criticized Arab leaders and called on them to take urgent steps
against Israel's attack on Gaza. He also urged Arab people to pressure
their leaders.
'It is an American-Israeli war supported by Arab regimes aimed at
pressuring the Palestinian people to extinguish their cause,' said
Safieddine, a first cousin of Hezbollah's Secretray-General Sheikh
Hassan Nasrallah.
Hezbollah had already held several rallies in Lebanon earlier this
month protesting the Gaza Strip blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt.
Hamas spokesman in Lebanon, Ousama Hamdan, who was attending the
Hezbollah rally, called on the people of Gaza to stay in their
steadfastness, declaring they will witness 'a new victory soon.'
Arab foreign ministers were scheduled to meet in Cairo on Sunday or
Monday to take a common position on Israeli raids, Arab League chief
Amr Mussa said.
Lebanon's premier Fouad Seniora also expressed the lebanese
government's condemnation of the Israeli air strikes, and called on
the Arab League and Arab leaders quickly to form a united Arab stance
to respond to the Israeli attacks.
Seniora also called on the United Nations and its Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon to take international measures to halt Israel's actions.
Seniora called for a broad Lebanese, Arab and international
campaign of solidarity with the Palestinians, in order to stop the
attacks, rescue the victims and take defensive measures against
Israel.
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