"Trying to empty Lebanon of the Shiites is equivalent to conspiring to destroy it by eliminating one of its founding components. Israel wants to instill sectarian divisions and is pushing for civil war," said Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader Gebran Bassil on Saturday during a speech commemorating Oct. 13, 1990. On that date, the founder of the FPM, Michel Aoun, was ousted from Baabda by the Syrian army and forced into exile.
"Any attempt to weaken the Shiites is an attack on all of Lebanon and its people," added Bassil, whose remarks were transcribed on the FPM's website, Tayyar.org. The Aounist leader praised "the martyrs of Oct. 13 and the martyrs of the resistance who are on the frontlines today," and stated that "if in 2024, a piece of Lebanese land were to be occupied by Israel, it would be liberated as it was in 2000." Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000 came after more than 20 years of occupation.
"The most dangerous thing Israel is doing is the systematic destruction of buildings and the forced displacement of populations, so they cannot return home in the short term," he continued, as Lebanon faces the worst population displacement in its history, with more than 1.2 million displaced.
"While it’s true that Israel doesn’t need an excuse to attack Lebanon, as it has been preparing for a revenge war since its defeat in July 2006, it’s also true that the support for Gaza gave it full justification to strike Lebanon," said the former minister, referring to the "support front" opened by Hezbollah on Oct. 8, 2023, in solidarity with Hamas. "Lebanon has always maintained a legitimate self-defense stance, it was never in an offensive position," emphasized Bassil, who urged separating Lebanon from Gaza.
As usual, Bassil again called for the election of a president, as Lebanon has been without a head of state for nearly two years. "Is it acceptable for some parties to not care about weakening the Lebanese by preventing the election of a president until after a cease-fire? While knowing that Benjamin Netanyahu will not agree to a cease-fire until he has turned Lebanon into a new Gaza? And that Israel might seek to block the election of a president through its aggression?"