Saudi supports zionist occupation of Palestine: Hezbollah official

A senior Hezbollah official has slammed Saudi attempts to hamper Palestinian struggles in pursuit of their rights, saying the regime in Riyadh backs the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands.

Sheikh Naeem Qassem, the deputy secretary general of Lebanon’s resistance movement Hezbollah, made the remarks at a meeting of clerics and Islamic scholars in Beirut on ways to strengthen the anti-Israel resistance front, Iranian Tasnim news agency cited a report by Al Mayadeen TV channel as saying.

Sheikh Qassem further said Riyadh has openly voiced support for an Israeli project to deny the Palestinian nation the right to return to their homeland.

He reaffirmed Hezbollah’s support for the Palestinian cause, stressing that occupation would not be able to stand fast as long as resistance is alive.

The top Hezbollah official also denounced a recent statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Tel Aviv will never relinquish the occupied Golan Heights, saying such comments show the expansionist agenda of the Israeli regime in the region.

He further warned that a “hostile plot” is in the works against Muslim nations with the backing of the US, Israel and the Saudi-sponsored Takfiri terror groups operating in the region.

In March, Netanyahu said his regime’s relations with regional Arab countries are “dramatically warming” in yet another acknowledgement of behind-the-scenes ties between Israel and certain Arab countries, which publicly pose as Tel Aviv’s traditional adversaries.

A former general in the Saudi military has also said recently that the kingdom would open an embassy in Tel Aviv if Israel accepted an Arab initiative to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

On March 2, the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) issued a statement labeling Hezbollah a terrorist organization. The bloc comprises Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait.

Reacting to the decision, Hezbollah described the GCC member states as “reckless and hostile,” blaming Saudi Arabia for the move.

The decision followed recent victories by the Syrian army and allied Hezbollah fighters in their battles against Takfiri militants fighting to topple the Syrian government.