Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea said in an interview with LBC on Wednesday that he was ready to hold a parliamentary session to elect a president without the participation of the Shiite community, while Lebanon has been without a president since the end of Michel Aoun's mandate on Oct. 31, 2022.

"Yes, I accept a session to elect a president in which the Shiite community would not participate. The Constitution allows it, as does the National Pact. For example, if the Maronites refused a decision, would the country be paralyzed as a result?" asked Geagea, a leading Maronite leader.

He also said that "Nabih Berri's refusal to hold sessions without the participation of the LF and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) shows that he does not really want to call a session. Adopting this principle is an erroneous approach that has led to a deadlock for 40 years."

At the end of October, Patriarch Bechara Rai, for the first time, specifically accused Berri of blocking the presidential election. It was the first time that the head of the Maronite Church had so clearly accused Berri of obstructing the election of a new president.

Geagea continued by stating that "the solution lies either in an amendment of the Constitution, taking into account current practices to establish a new constitutional framework, or in respecting the current Constitution, which provides for the holding of the presidential election. It is therefore unacceptable to ask for a consensus before the election."

Commenting on the Israeli attacks in Lebanon, Geagea estimated that "we have about three to four months to clarify the situation, and I expect the fighting to continue, if not intensify. Both sides in the conflict consider that they have an opportunity to strengthen their positions before reaching a situation that would limit their room for maneuver."

"Since the beginning of the support front [in Gaza], Hezbollah's calculations were generally wrong, and the current results prove it," he continued. "Unfortunately, the party persists in this logic, as evidenced by the latest speech by Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem. In reality, what is happening today corresponds exactly to Israeli plans."

Geagea stressed that "in one month, the Israelis occupied about 200 square kilometers [in Lebanon], while it took them between eight and nine months to occupy Gaza, which covers 360 square kilometers. This shows that they are well ahead in Lebanon, contrary to what Hezbollah claims."

The new leader of Hezbollah on Wednesday displayed his determination to continue the fight against Israel and to strike Israel on its soil, despite the blows inflicted on his party by the Israeli army after more than a month of open war. In his second speech after officially succeeding Hassan Nasrallah, assassinated by Israel in a strike, Qassem stated that he had tens of thousands of fighters ready to confront the Israeli army and warned that no place in Israel was safe from the missiles and drones of his formation.

The Israeli army has been conducting an intensive campaign of strikes in Lebanon since Sept. 23, targeting Hezbollah strongholds in particular, and launched a ground offensive on Sept. 30. Hezbollah said that its men are repelling Israeli incursions in the border areas and announces daily launching rockets, missiles and drones on Israeli territory.