MPs Salim Sayegh (at the podium), Georges Okais (right), Achraf Rifi and Mark Daou (left) at their press conference in Parliament. (Credit: National News Agency)
As anticipated, the opposition camp expressed its strong disapproval of the July 27 dangerous development in the town of Majdal Shams, in the Syrian Golan occupied and annexed by Israel.
The strike — which Israel blamed on Hezbollah — killed 12 Druze civilians, and is all the more frowned upon given that the risk of a very heavy-handed Israeli response, or even of the situation escalating into a more global war, has never been higher.
Lebanese Forces (LF) Leader Samir Geagea lashed out at the Iran- and Hezbollah-led Moumanaa camp. “It’s a cancer, insofar as the state-building is being progressively eroded by the transnational role that Hezbollah has been assuming. The unity of fronts is eating away at Lebanon’s sovereignty,” said LF Spokesman Charles Jabbour.
According to the LF, the recent developments in the Golan Heights and the risk of a conflict are a consequence that Lebanon is facing, as it “pays the price for the unilateral decision to open a support front in Gaza, which Hezbollah took. The Lebanese are now anxiously expecting the Israeli response.” “Had a Gaza support front not been open [on Oct. 8 in south Lebanon], an attack like the one on Majdal Shams would not have happened,” said Jabbour, thus attributing the strike to the Hezbollah militia.
On July 22, the LF and other opposition MPs submitted a petition to Parliament, calling on its Speaker Nabih Berri to hold a Q&A session with the cabinet members on the ongoing war in south Lebanon, hoping to put an end to “the military operations that do not fall within the official framework of the Lebanese state.” Berri has totally ignored this request.
‘If I had known’
The same is true of the Kataeb. “We are going through the consequences of a unilateral decision made by Tehran. Based on calculations that have nothing to do with Lebanon’s strategic interests, Hezbollah is ready to destroy our country so as to safeguard its regional interests and secure its place among the major decision-makers in the region,” said Kataeb Spokesman Patrick Richa. He warned once again against “a dangerous adventure that could worsen at any moment.” “We’ll see whether in a few weeks’ time, we’ll hear for the second time the famous expression of ‘if I’d known’,” he said, in reference to Hassan Nasrallah’s remarks at the end of the destructive 2006 war, in which he admitted that if he “had known” that the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers on July 12 would provoke a conflict of this magnitude, he wouldn’t have done it.
MP Ashraf Rifi, a member of the Renewal bloc, who is known for his hostility towards Hezbollah, said he is saddened by the fall of “innocent victims,” and called for an “international inquiry to shed light on the circumstances [of the operation] and identify those responsible.” Rifi called for restraint, an end to “the bloodshed of innocent” victims and respect for international resolutions.
For her part, Change MP Paula Yacoubian deplored the fact that Lebanon is “being held hostage by Hezbollah, as is the entire political establishment, with no faith or law.” “We know full well that Israel is a bloodthirsty monster bent on destruction. Hence the even greater risk that Hezbollah has posed by endangering the country, regardless of whether Hezbollah is responsible for this operation or not,” she said.
Change MP Mark Daou recalled the many warnings the opposition made. “What happened in Majdal Shams is a thousand proofs of the dangers caused from the beginning by the opening of a support front in Gaza, which by the way has not been helpful for the Palestinians,” he said. Daou reiterated the view of the opposition as a whole that the Lebanese political parties must prioritize Lebanon, so as to spare the country another war. "That said, I wouldn’t go so far as to describe any Lebanese component — whatever the political differences with this component — as a ‘cancer.’ I am against treason language,” said Daou.
This article was originally published in L'Orient-Le Jour and translated by Joelle El Khoury.
