Bassil calls for 'an internal agreement for a definitive exit from the war'

BEIRUT — The head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM,) Gebran Bassil, on Tuesday called on Lebanese people to agree on "an internal agreement for a definitive exit from the war."

Following a meeting of the FPM's executive council at its headquarters in Beirut, Bassil lamented that "Lebanese are living amid complex and intertwined wars with multiple dangers, starting with Israeli missiles falling on our soil, and extending to the chaos sparked by the Israeli-American war on Iran and its repercussions throughout the Gulf countries."

Lebanon entered the war after Hezbollah opened a front with Iran on March 2, following the start of the Israeli-American attack on that country on Feb. 28. Since the beginning of this new war in Lebanon, more than one million people have been displaced from bombed areas, and more than a 1,000 civilians killed according to the health ministry.

"As Lebanese, we must find ways to protect our small country by steering clear of internal discord and sparing it from other people's wars, hence the need for agreements on principles and a commitment to implementing them," continued the Batroun MP.

He called for rejecting "internal fighting, which is a red line," as well as "hate speech, incitement to violence, and threats."

Since this new front was opened by Hezbollah, and since the group's military and security activity was declared "illegal" by the government on March 2, divisions on the local scene have reached their peak, not only among political parties but also across social media networks and in the press.

State institutions are the only reference that matters, the FPM leader insisted, calling to resolve disputes between host communities and displaced persons through official channels.