Kataeb MP Nadim Gemayel during his speech at Sassine Square on Sept. 13, 2026. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Kataeb MP Nadim Gemayel said Sunday evening that his party does not oppose Lebanon making peace with Israel, which continues to occupy more than 600 square kilometers of Lebanese territory and has razed dozens of border villages and killed over 4,300 people during its war with Hezbollah.
“We want our relations to be more than excellent with everyone in our region, as long as no one interferes in our affairs or has designs on our territory. We have no problem making peace with anyone, whether it is Israel or any other country,” he said from Sassine Square during an event marking the 44th anniversary of the assassination of his father, former President Bachir Gemayel.
Bachir Gemayel was killed in a bombing on Sept. 14, 1982, carried out by Habib Chartouni, a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.
The Israel-Lebanon framework agreement reached in June, following several rounds of direct negotiations over the Lebanese Army’s disarmament of Hezbollah in certain areas, has not stopped Israel from continuing to attack Lebanese territory.
Gemayel also criticized the Lebanese state for failing to act with “boldness” to disarm Hezbollah and curb Iranian influence in Lebanon.
“The disappointment is great, and the prevailing feeling is one of failure and the absence of the state (...) All we are asking is for the state to really pull itself together, respect its decisions and live up to its word,” he said.
“If you expect Hezbollah to become Lebanese and hand over its weapons to the state, you do not understand its makeup, its policy, its ideology, the extent of its ties with Iran or the reason for its existence. The Americans support and help us, and the Gulf countries love Lebanon and have always stood by its side. But we also have duties. All that is being asked of us is a serious state project, based on will and boldness in its implementation,” he added.
'Do you want all of Lebanon to look like Bint Jbeil and Ali Taher?'
“How can the world take us seriously when you grant a courtesy residency to the ambassador you expelled, thus breaking your own decision and word and undermining the authority of the state? How can the world take us seriously when you still allow the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the militia to keep digging in our mountains while you simply watch? Do you want all of Lebanon to become like Bint Jbeil and Ali Taher?” Gemayel said.
Israel occupied and razed the city of Bint Jbeil during the latest war. The city had been one of Hezbollah’s strategic front-line positions during the 2006 war. Last week, Israel also destroyed a Hezbollah tunnel complex buried beneath the strategic Ali Taher hill in the Nabatieh region using more than 1,100 tons of explosives. The site had been under Israeli siege for several weeks.
Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Reza Shibani was declared persona non grata at the end of March over suspicions that he had interfered in Lebanese affairs through Hezbollah. A compromise was reached at the end of August with the renewal of his visa, although he did not regain his status as a diplomatic representative.
