By Jaidaa Taha
CAIRO (Reuters) – Israel’s killing of Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was met with silence by many Sunni-led states throughout the area, showcasing the cut up between populations outraged at Israel and authorities who normalised ties with Israel or are against Hezbollah’s patron Iran.
Nasrallah, who led the highly effective Shi’ite armed group for 32 years, made regional enemies past Israel and the West. Gulf international locations and the broader Arab League designated his group a “terrorist organization” in 2016, though the League retracted the designation earlier this 12 months.
Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia stated in an announcement late on Sunday that it’s following the developments in Lebanon with “grave concern”, and urged the preservation of the sovereignty and regional safety of Lebanon. But it surely made no point out of Nasrallah.
And Sunni-ruled states Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have stayed utterly quiet on Nasrallah’s killing. The UAE and Bahrain normalised ties with Israel in 2020, and Bahrain quashed a sizeable pro-democracy rebellion by its Shi’ite neighborhood in 2011.
The Bahraini pro-Iran LuaLua TV, nonetheless, broadcast movies displaying modestly sized marches which it stated have been in mourning for Nasrallah. The channel stated the Bahraini regime “attacked” demonstrators and detained a few of them.
The Bahraini opposition web site Bahrain Mirror reported the dominion detained a Shi’ite cleric for expressing his condolences on Nasrallah. Reuters was unable to confirm the Bahraini media studies.
In keeping with an announcement by the Egyptian presidency, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi spoke to Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati by cellphone and stated Cairo rejected any violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty – with out mentioning Nasrallah.
Egypt has been vital of Iran and its proxies up to now, although it has maintained casual contacts with Iran and Egypt’s overseas minister has held official conferences with Iranian officers over the previous 12 months.
Within the first televised speech because the killing of Nasrallah on Sunday, Sisi stated the area goes via troublesome circumstances, and stated that Egypt “manages its issues in a way that preserves it and the region as possible, without being dragged in issues that can impact its stability and security.” He additionally made no point out of Nasrallah within the speech.
Different states like Syria and Iraq have declared a three-day mourning interval.
GRIEF AND CRITICISM
Hassan Nasrallah’s identify has been trending on-line in lots of Arab states since Saturday, with many grieving his loss.
Sheikh Ahmed Bin Hamad al-Khalili, the grand mufti of the Gulf state of Oman, stated in a submit on X that his nation was “saddened by the passing of the secretary general of Hezbollah, after he had been a thorn in the throat of the Zionist project for more than three decades.”
However different customers criticised Nasrallah, notably over Hezbollah’s intervention within the Syrian civil warfare. Together with help from Iran and Russia, that intervention finally helped President Bashar al-Assad regain management over a lot of the nation from anti-government rebels.
“The victims of Nasrallah in Syria are hundreds of thousands, does he deserve mercy from Muslims?” Iraqi-based journalist Omar AlJmmal stated on X.
UAE-based journalist Saif alDareei shared in a submit on X a video he stated depicted the “joy” of residents in Syria’s Idlib province after information of Nasrallah’s killing.
“Hezbollah did what the Jews did not do against our brothers in Syria,” he stated.
Saudi Arabian poet Abdul Latif Al-Sheikh stated on X: “Gloating [over Nasrallah’s killing] is not just random hostility, but a natural reaction to a series of dirty policies and actions that have aroused widespread resentment.”
Others tried to stability criticism of Nasrallah and Israel, whose army operations in Gaza and up to date escalation in Lebanon have triggered widespread outrage.
“Joy and gloating now is achieving victory for the enemy, fragmenting the (Arab) nation and betraying the people of Lebanon and Gaza,” stated Egyptian TV host Lamis Elhadidi on X.
“Put your differences aside and forget about Iran, as there is an Arab country that is being bombed every hour.”
