The leader of the Free Patriotic Movement and MP, Gebran Bassil, during his interview Friday evening on local television. (Credit: Screenshot from LBCI/NNA photo)
MP Gebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), said Friday night that "Hezbollah has been making mistakes since it opened the front to support Gaza in 2023 and up to the present day." These mistakes, committed "by one Lebanese faction, do not, however, justify siding with Israel or allowing it to occupy Lebanese territories and threaten Lebanese citizens," he said, addressing critics of the party.
Hezbollah opened a front against Israel in support of Gaza after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, triggering a war that lasted until November 2024. The group then opened a new front in South Lebanon in March 2026 in support of Iran, which was under attack by Israel and the United States. The latest conflict caused widespread destruction in southern Lebanon and led to a renewed Israeli occupation of parts of the South.
A former ally of Hezbollah, Bassil made the remarks during an interview with local broadcaster LBCI. He was asked about the war between Hezbollah and Israel since March 2, the Lebanese political class and the direct Lebanese-Israeli negotiations that have been taking place in Washington since early April. He presented what he described as the centrist position of the FPM and its moderate vision within Lebanon's political landscape. Since the formation of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam's government in early 2025, the FPM has been in opposition.
While again calling on Hezbollah to "hand over its weapons to the Lebanese state," Bassil warned "against targeting the Shiite community and seeking to eliminate Hezbollah in its social sense, which would mean attacking south Lebanon and the Bekaa [the strongholds of this party] as essential constituents of Lebanon."
"Pointing out Hezbollah's mistakes does not mean ignoring the ongoing Israeli aggressions," he added.
"Neither Iran nor Israel matters to me, as the FPM, I care only about Lebanese sovereignty," he said. Iran has notably claimed it wants to negotiate on Lebanon's behalf in its talks with the United States, which could soon result in an agreement, while President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam have insisted that only the Lebanese state can negotiate on Lebanon's behalf.
On the Lebanese-Israeli negotiations, Bassil criticized the fact "that they are continuing at a time when Israeli aggressions have not ceased," arguing that "ignoring repeated violations of the cease-fire weakens the Lebanese position and gives the impression that the government is covering up Israeli operations."
On Hezbollah's weapons and the domestic situation in Lebanon, the former minister said that "the solution lies in a national security strategy implemented by the state in accordance with Lebanon's interests, not those of Israel or Iran."
For him, "the state must ensure that Hezbollah is part of it and approves it, by reassuring it that it will not be politically targeted."
