Nadim Gemayel, member of the Kataeb party's parliamentary bloc. (Credit: Kataeb archive photo)
During an interview with Al-Jadeed on Monday evening, Kataeb MP Nadim Gemayel said that the cease-fire then being negotiated between Israel and Hezbollah served Israeli interests. He had argued that “once the agreement has been reached and no solution has been found to rid Hezbollah of its arsenal,” the weapons “problem,” which was resolved at the border, will become a source of internal conflict.
"When the agreement is reached, will Hezbollah rearm or will it agree to become a mere political party?” asked the MP, fiercely opposed to Hezbollah, before pointing out that he was “in favor of a cease-fire” in the war that had been raging in Lebanon since Sept. 23.
“I'm in favor of a cease-fire to protect our people, but I'm not in favor of an agreement if that agreement moves the issue from the border with Israel to the interior of the country,” he said.
“I'm afraid this could become an internal conflict and serve as an excuse for some parties to take up arms again,” he warned, recalling the Civil War.
"I wish we hadn't experienced all this destruction and I wish Israel hadn’t entered Lebanon, but the most important thing to end this war is for Hezbollah to surrender its weapons, respect the armistice agreement and rebuild the homes of the displaced,” said the son of former Lebanese president Bachir Gemayel, assassinated in 1982.
These comments came as a cease-fire agreement which went into effect today, Wednesday, Nov. 27, and had been negotiated between Hezbollah and Israel, who had been fighting since Oct. 8, 2023 before today’s cease-fire. The fighting was triggered by the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, which has degenerated into a near-total war since September.
For Nadim Gemayel, the agreement does not provide a lasting solution to the issue of Hezbollah's weapons.
Iran's responsibility
“Will Sheikh Naim Qassem accept the terms of the agreement? What role will the Lebanese army play after the conclusion of the agreement, which provides for its deployment in the South and the expansion of its presence and for the withdrawal of Hezbollah, with its heavy weapons, from south of the Litani River?” asked Gemayel. He also fears that if the Iranian-backed group “does not give up its weapons, this may drive a wedge between Hezbollah and the Lebanese army,” and called political parties to negotiate in order to implement agreements aimed at disbanding non-legitimate armed factions.
Like other political figures, including Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Joumblatt and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, Gemayel accused Iran of being the “main source behind the war in Lebanon.”
According to him, “the Islamic Republic is waging an indirect war through Lebanon, exploiting Hezbollah to attack Israel as part of its ‘unity of fronts’ strategy, even if it means destroying Lebanese territory.”
As a reminder, on Oct. 8, 2023, Hezbollah opened a front against Israel in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas, following an unprecedented attack by the Islamist movement against Israel.
“It is imperative to put an end to this conflict, and this should have been done from the start without Hezbollah getting involved in the war. All we want is to not be involved in a new war, as Hezbollah has done,” Gemayel said.
“The only solution is to respect the armistice agreement,” he concluded, referring to the agreement signed March 23, 1949 between Lebanon and Israel, which stipulates that no military or paramilitary element on land, sea or in the air may carry out any act of war against the neighboring country.
This article was translated from L'Orient-Le Jour.
