Palestine must be returned to its real owners: Nasrallah

The secretary general of Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement has said the land of Palestine must be returned to its real owners.

Addressing hundreds of supporters marking the International Quds Day on the suburbs of Beirut, Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that liberating Palestine must be the first priority for Muslims across the world.

Hezbollah leader stated that in the past years, US and its regional allies have misled Muslims by inventing false priorities for them, including the war in Afghanistan, in a bid to divert world’s attention from Israel and its brutalities against Palestinians.

He also called Israel an existential threat not only to the Palestinians but also to the whole region.

“Some might think that the demise of Israel is a Palestinian interest, it’s rather a national interest for every country in the region. It [Israel] is a threat to Jordan, Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon; thus the disappearance of Israel is in national interest of Jordanians, Syrians, Egyptians and Lebanese,” al-Manar quoted Nasrallah as saying.

Hezbollah leader said Muslims worldwide must not forget their responsibility with regard to Palestine, adding that Hezbollah will never abandon the Palestinian cause and the holy city of al-Quds.

“We say to America, Israel, Great Britain and their regional tools, we say to every enemy and friend … we in Hezbollah will not abandon Palestine and the people of Palestine,” he said.

In August 1979, the late founder of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Khomeini declared the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as International Quds Day, calling on Muslims across the world to mark the annual occasion by holding street rallies.

Palestinians are seeking to create an independent state on the territories of the West Bank, East al-Quds (Jerusalem), and the Gaza Strip, and are demanding that Israel withdraw from the Palestinian territories occupied in the 1967 Six-Day War.