The leader of the Kataeb party, Samy Gemayel. (Credit: Photo provided by the Kataeb party)
BEIRUT — The Kataeb Party, a main Christian opponent of Hezbollah, accused the group on Tuesday of trying to ''evade its responsibility in the war'' by calling for the government’s downfall, as Jaafarite Mufti Ahmad Qabalan, a figure close to Hezbollah, urged President Aoun to change the government and form a ''strong partnership'' with the Hezbollah-Amal alliance.
In a statement, Samy Gemayel’s party argued that the leaders of Hezbollah — who dragged Lebanon into the war in the Middle East by firing rockets at Israel to avenge the death of the Iranian supreme leader — should instead be held responsible for plunging Lebanon into "a spiral of destruction, forced displacement and death."
The Christian party also reiterated its rejection of any weapons outside the authority of the state, considering this "the main obstacle to the country’s stability, unity, and the restoration of the full role of the state."
The Kataeb’s political bureau also addressed the U.S.-Iran framework agreement, which, according to Iran, provides for an end to the war on all fronts in the Middle East, saying it concerns only Washington and Tehran and "has no connection with the Lebanese dossier," while emphasizing that only an agreement negotiated by the Lebanese state and its legitimate institutions could bind the country.
The Kataeb finally called on the Lebanese state, once the cease-fire is fully consolidated, to assign the assessment of damages exclusively to official institutions, especially the Lebanese Army.
They also called on the government to demand compensation from Iran for the damage suffered by Lebanese as a result of a war that, in their view, "did not serve Lebanon’s interests and was not decided by it," while insisting that all reconstruction aid pass exclusively through state institutions.
