Gemayel calls on Hezbollah to 'put an end to the support front'

The leader of the Christian opposition Kataeb party, Samy Gemayel, called on Hezbollah to "put an end to the support front" in Gaza that the party is putting forward to justify its clashes with Israel, which began on Oct. 8, 2023.

“We call on Hezbollah to end the support front, return to the state and abandon regional adventurism,” Gemayel said during a press conference in Bickfaya.

“We call on Hezbollah to end the support front, before the catastrophe worsens and to hand over its weapons and soldiers to the Lebanese army. This is not a capitulation, but a return to the state and abandoning regional adventures. It is time to unite our path with the Lebanese people rather than with Iran, Hamas or others,” he added.

“The lives of the Lebanese are not a bargaining chip” in Hamas’s negotiations, he continued, calling for Lebanon “not to turn into a second Gaza.”

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"This war is not defensive, but a support for Hamas, and it has destroyed Hezbollah's argument that its weapons protect the Lebanese," the Metn MP said. "It is time to unite with the Lebanese people rather than with Iran or Hamas, because so far, only the Lebanese are paying the price. We can defend the Palestinians, but not at the expense of the Lebanese state."

'They have all abandoned you'

Addressing Hezbollah, the Kataeb leader said: "You called for the unity of the fronts, but they all abandoned you. Will you continue to make sacrifices?"

While Iran has so far not been involved in the latest round of clashes between the party and Israel, only stating through its president that Hezbollah "cannot face [Israel] alone," the "Resistance in Iraq" has increased its missile and drone strikes towards Israel since last Sunday, while the Israeli army announced that it had intercepted a missile from Yemen during the night from Thursday to Friday.

"We call for the recognition of the state and its army, the implementation of international resolutions 1559 and 1701, and the facilitation of the election of a president to open a site of honesty and reconciliation, and to sit around a table to put our concerns together in order to build Lebanon on solid foundations," Samy Gemayel added. The post of President of the Lebanese Republic has been vacant since the end of Michel Aoun's term on October 31, 2022, due to the lack of consensus on a replacement.

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"We reiterate our call for the opening of parliament so that the state can return and take the initiative to elect a president, because the people are being held hostage by Hezbollah and the Israeli war machine," concluded the Kataeb leader.

More than 1,500 people have been killed in Israeli bombings since Oct. 8, 2023, including more than 600 since Monday, according to official Lebanese figures.

This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.