Gebran Bassil, MPs Mohammad Khawaja and Nabil Badr, during a conference at the Phoenicia, on July 30, 2026. (Credit: CPL)
BEIRUT — Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Gebran Bassil on Tuesday called on Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to “convene a public session so that the government can be held accountable before Lebanese public opinion,” particularly over “the war, the weapons and the agreement related to this issue,” according to remarks reported by the state-run National News Agency (NNA).
Highly critical of the Salam government, from which the Aounist movement has been excluded since its formation in February 2025, Bassil said that, as the “opposition,” he has a “detailed file containing 57 points” on measures the government has failed to implement or provisions it has violated. “This file is ready to be published at any moment,” he added.
Long allied with Hezbollah before distancing himself from the group following its launch of the “support front for Gaza” in October 2023, Bassil insisted that “the government must officially declare before Parliament whether there is an unpublished annex and security-enforcement documents linked to the framework agreement [signed between Lebanon and Israel under U.S. sponsorship at the end of June] because Israeli officials claim in their declarations that they will not withdraw as they have a mandate granted by the Lebanese authorities.” According to the framework agreement, and its security annex published by the media, the “gradual” Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon is conditional on the Lebanese Army disarming Hezbollah.
Bassil also revisited his latest point of contention with the government: the general amnesty law, adopted Aug. 12 after months of political and sectarian disputes. “We are seriously studying the possibility of appealing the general amnesty law. We have also submitted a question to the government regarding the flagrant violation of the Constitution by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who prevented a minister from expressing his views before Parliament,” he said.
Highly anticipated among the Sunni community, the law ultimately allows for the release of 86 Islamist detainees. It has been sharply criticized by the Lebanese Army, which opposes any measure that would allow people convicted of killing soldiers to benefit from the amnesty. During the parliamentary vote, Salam refused to allow Defense Minister Michel Menassah to deliver a speech defending the army and criticizing the release of the Islamists, citing the need to preserve government unity.
