Translation of “Lebanon Debate”
Israel has placed a Sunni association active in the Bekaa Valley and its president, Sheikh Dr. Ahmed Miteb Al-Qattan, under the microscope, accusing them of providing religious and social cover that allows Hezbollah to penetrate the Sunni environment and expand its influence outside its traditional Shiite base.
In a report prepared by researcher Tal Perry, the Israeli “Alma” Center claimed that the “Qulna Al-Amal” Cultural Association, which is based in the town of Bar Elias, is not limited to its religious, educational and charitable activities, but rather performs a role that it described as “a civil and religious influence arm” of Hezbollah within the Sunni community in the Bekaa.
The report focused mainly on Al-Qattan, a Sunni cleric and member of the Central Council of the “Association of Muslim Scholars,” placing his positions in support of the “resistance” and his refusal to disarm Hezbollah within the framework of a political and ideological relationship with the party and Iran. “Alma” relied on Al-Qattan’s support for the equation of “the army, the people, and the resistance,” and his announcement in 2022 that the association’s activity was taking place “within the framework of the axis of resistance movements.”
The report also indicated that the association hosted the current MP Rami Abu Hamdan, who was a candidate on a list supported by Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, before the 2022 elections, and the participation of representatives of the party and the Iranian embassy in a number of its activities.
To reinforce his accusations, “Alma” cited Hezbollah’s provision of 100 food rations to the association on January 12, 2026, to be distributed to families in need, in addition to the presence of the representative of the Iranian embassy, Tawfiq Samadi, and the Hezbollah official in the Bekaa, Faisal Shukr, at a festival organized by the association on “Jerusalem Day” during March 2025.
The report also laid out the association’s positions in support of Iran, Hezbollah, the “Hamas” and “Islamic Jihad” movements, and the Houthis, and its opposition to normalization with Israel, within what it called the “soft influence” system of the resistance axis. He also touched upon Al-Qattan’s meeting with Iranian Ambassador Mojtaba Amani in December 2024, and his confirmation of Iran’s continued support for Lebanon, the “resistance,” and the Palestinian factions.
However, the Israeli Center acknowledged that it had not found public information proving that the association receives direct funding from Iran, nor did it provide evidence of its organizational connection to Hezbollah, based primarily on Al-Qattan’s political positions, the association’s relationships, and its social and religious activities.
Thus, the Israeli report places a Sunni association and a Sunni cleric in the circle of political targeting, against the backdrop of their public support for Hezbollah and the “Axis of Resistance,” and presents them as a bridge that allows the party to cross into segments of the Sunni environment in the Bekaa.
