A Hezbollah flag planted on the ruins of a building bombed by Israel in Hermel, in the Bekaa, in November 2024. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient Today.)
BEIRUT —A statement released Thursday by Hezbollah deputy leader Nam Qassem, reaffirming his party’s solidarity with Iran in its war with Israel, has drawn sharp criticism from several Lebanese political parties, led by the Lebanese Forces (LF), who denounced Hezbollah’s open rejection of neutrality.
“We express our position alongside Iran, its leadership, and its people, and we act as we see fit in the face of this barbaric Israeli-American aggression,” Qassem declared in the statement. Reiterating Hezbollah’s commitment to Tehran, he added, “We are not neutral.”
The LF, led by Samir Geagea and long opposed to Hezbollah’s influence, reacted forcefully. In a statement posted to the party’s official X account, the LF said Qassem’s remarks directly challenge “the president of the Republic, who ensured the state’s monopoly on weapons.” The party asserted that Hezbollah’s decision to back Iran in the war is “specific to Hezbollah and not to the state.”
“The position expressed by the militia-party shows that it respects neither the ceasefire, nor the inauguration speech [of President Joseph Aoun], nor the ministerial statement, nor the Taif Agreement, nor the authority of the state,” the statement continued.
According to the LF, “Nam Qassem wants to challenge the president, the prime minister, and the Republic by saying that when Iran decides on Hezbollah's entry into war, it will do so without asking anyone’s permission.”
The party also questioned whether, under such circumstances, “the head of state and the president of the Council will be able to reassure the Lebanese that the state will not allow Lebanon to be involved in the war.”
Geagea himself further questioned Qassem, saying, “You cannot act as you please [...] only the Lebanese government can act as it sees fit, as it represents the majority of the Lebanese people.” He added that any proposal regarding the Israel-Iran war “[must be submitted] to your representatives in the government, presented at the next Cabinet meeting, reviewed, and an appropriate decision will then be made.”
MP Ashraf Rifi, another vocal opponent of Hezbollah, responded sharply on X, calling Qassem’s statement “shameful and humiliating.” He affirmed, “Lebanon is neutral, and you will not be able to bring it back to destruction,” adding, “Lebanese lives are precious, and if you want to commit suicide, do it alone.”
Dissident MP Najat Aoun Saliba echoed the call for neutrality, stating, “We adhere to strategic neutrality as an existential choice.” She emphasized that neutrality remains “the only guarantee of Lebanon's survival,” rejecting “any attempt to involve Lebanon in the Israel-Iran war, no matter if it's under the guise of defense, deterrence, or resistance.” She concluded firmly, “We say it clearly: enough of dragging Lebanon into the wars of others. Enough contempt for people's lives. Enough betting on ruin.”
On his X account, Kataeb MP Nadim Gemayel accused Qassem of “being the representative of Wilayet al-Faqih in Lebanon.”
“Let him remember that Lebanon is not, and never will be, an Iranian province, but a free and sovereign country,” he wrote, adding that Qassem “cannot monopolize decision-making in Lebanon” or “decide unilaterally on the fate of the Lebanese.”
"The Lebanese state must prevent these attacks on sovereignty, and stop wasting time on the pretext of first withdrawing weapons from Palestinian factions, to justify its silence on Hezbollah's weapons and its regional project. Sovereignty is indivisible," Gemayel said.
In the aftermath of the large-scale Israeli attack on Iran, on the night of June 12-13, Hezbollah stated that it would not unilaterally attack Israel. Government sources had indicated that pressure was exerted on Hezbollah to prevent it from getting involved in the conflict.
On Oct. 8, 2023, following the Hamas attack in Israel and the severe response, which continues and has caused tens of thousands of deaths in Gaza, Hezbollah had opened a "support front" to the Palestinian movement, which had triggered a devastating war of more than a year in Lebanon.
Since the Taef agreements in 1989, the principle of neutrality stipulates that Lebanon should not align with either a political party or a foreign power to preserve its independence from foreign influences. This concept is particularly defended by the Maronite patriarch Beshara Rai.