Geagea accuses Hezbollah of causing a 'major catastrophe' for Shiite community

BEIRUT — Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea called for the dissolution of Hezbollah's military and security branches on Thursday night, accusing the party of endangering Lebanon's Shiite community and claiming his own party was working in that community's interest.

"Shiites are now facing a major catastrophe because of Hezbollah," Geagea said in an interview with the local channel MTV. "The only way to save them is to dissolve the party's military and security branches; otherwise they will never get through this."

However, he clarified that his perspective does not apply to the party's political wing. "I do not want to get rid of Hezbollah," he said, "only its military and security branches. And if anything remains, it would be welcome."

"The political party working most for the interests of Shiites in Lebanon is the Lebanese Forces," the party leader claimed, "while the one working most against the interests of the Shiite community is Hezbollah."

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Geagea reiterated his calls for Hezbollah's disarmament, which has been set in motion through a Lebanese Army plan drawn up at the behest of Cabinet.

"Every solution must start with a monopoly on weapons," Geagea said. "The responsible party is the one who finds solutions, not the one who laments the ruins. The problem does not lie with the army but with the lack of political will and determination."

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem "cannot make decisions" regarding a state monopoly on arms "on our behalf," Geagea said. According to the LF leader, Qassem "is left with only one alternative: either a state or no state."

"No party leader can control the fate of all Lebanese," he said.

In response to a question about peace with Israel, the LF leader said that for the time being, he believes the priority should be to "address the issue of military and security formations operating outside the state."

As for the killing of Elio Abi Hanna by Palestinian gunmen in Shatila refugee camp, Geagea called for a "decisive Palestinian disarmament rather than dealing with the matter through contacts aimed at handing over the killers."

The expat vote issue

Addressing the upcoming legislative elections scheduled for May 2026, Geagea called on his political cohorts "to respect the constitutional deadlines and to stay away from the idea of postponement just because something doesn't please us."

He criticised Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri's refusal to put the amendment of the electoral law, especially the article about how the diaspora would cast its ballots, on the agenda of parliamentary meetings.

"Nabih Berri is the guarantor of parliamentary activities, but he is not the arbiter; the arbiter is the majority within the general assembly," Geagea said. He revealed that "there has been talk" of an agreement between Berri and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam — who has been insistent that the elections are not delayed — on the matter, which started to surface during the last Cabinet meeting.

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Ministers have agreed to form a committee to study the electoral law ahead of the next Cabinet meeting. "We will examine things within this framework," Geagea said. "If we find that an agreement truly exists, we will then adopt a different position."

Several MPs boycotted Tuesday's Parliament meeting, which was subsequently postponed due to a lack of quorum. The protesting MPs are pushing for an amendment to the 2017 law that would allow Lebanese overseas to cast their ballots for all 128 seats based on their place of origin.

Hezbollah and its allies, including Berri's Amal movement, are calling for the current law to be applied by creating a special constituency of six deputies for the diaspora.

On Wednesday, Cabinet reviewed a draft law presented two weeks ago by Foreign Minister Joe Rajji, who is close to the Lebanese Forces, to amend the electoral law, and ultimately entrusted the matter to an ad hoc committee, which convened for the first time Thursday. The committee has been tasked with submitting, within a week, a new draft law combining Rajji's text and that of Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar, which addresses election logistics.