A flag displaying the Lebanese Forces logo. (Credit: National News Agency)
Statements made about 10 days ago by Lebanese Foreign Minister Joe Rajji regarding Hezbollah continue to stir tensions between the party and the Lebanese Forces, sworn enemies on the Lebanese political scene, with a new exchange of accusations in recent hours.
At the end of February, Rajji, a minister from the LF quota, stated during a program on the local channel MTV that "Hezbollah was giving the international community an excuse to refrain from exerting pressure on Israel." The minister accused Hezbollah of not adhering to the terms of the cease-fire, which are based on U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, providing that the Lebanese state must have exclusive control of weapons on its territory. Hezbollah, for its part, insists that the agreement only aims at disarming the party south of the Litani River.
These remarks prompted a reaction Sunday evening from Hezbollah's Secretary General Naim Qassem. During his first interview since taking office on Oct. 29, 2024, he turned the accusation around, asserting that it is the Foreign Minister who "gives Israel pretexts" by claiming that some Lebanese justify its aggressions. The party's leader also reproached Rajji for not condemning the Israeli occupation, calling his statements "unacceptable" for a government official, and even more for a chief diplomat.
In a statement published on its website Monday morning, Samir Geagea's party responded that it considers it is "those who cling to their weapons" who provide Israel "with pretexts not to fully respect the cease-fire agreements." The Christian party again reproached Hezbollah for having opened its front of support to Gaza and dragging Lebanon into a total war with the Israeli state, thereby seizing the power to decide on war and peace, encroaching on the state's prerogatives.
Since the cease-fire came into effect in Lebanon, the Israeli army has continued to carry out regular strikes and shootings, which have resulted in nearly 100 deaths since the end of November, arguing that Hezbollah does not respect its part of the truce agreement.