Lebanese Forces head slams Hezbollah for ignoring public opinion on conflict with Israel

Sept. 1, 2024, 7:09 p.m.

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The leader of the Lebanese Forces, a Christian political party, accused Hezbollah on Sunday of pushing Lebanon into a conflict with Israel without consulting the public.

In a speech attacking the Islamist group, Samir Geagea, who heads the main Christian bloc in parliament, accused Hezbollah of “confiscating the Lebanese people’s decision on war and peace, as if there were no state”.

Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October, Hezbollah has engaged in almost daily cross-border attacks on Israel in support of its Palestinian ally, a move opposed by the Lebanese Forces and other political groups.

The clashes are “a war that the Lebanese people reject, but has been imposed on them”, Geagea said in a speech to supporters in northern Beirut.

Advertisement “It is a war that the Lebanese people do not want and over which the government has had no say. This war does not serve Lebanon, it has brought nothing to Gaza, nor alleviated its suffering one iota,” he added.

Iran-backed Hezbollah was the only Lebanese group that did not lay down its arms after the 1975-1990 civil war.

Hezbollah's arsenal, considerably larger than the Lebanese army's, is promoted by its backers as a defensive measure against Israel.

The movement’s critics call Hezbollah a “state within a state”.

“This war, in which Hezbollah is engaged, must stop before it brings about a major war that will spare no one,” Geagea said.

He called on the government to “urge” Hezbollah to stop its fight with Israel.

Lebanon currently lacks a president, and the caretaker government is grappling to manage the country, which is in the throes of a severe financial crisis.

The tensions along the border seem to have eased since a significant escalation last month. Analysts suggest that both sides are exercising restraint to prevent a wider regional conflict.

In the most recent incident, one person was killed and 11 injured in Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon on Sunday, as reported by the Lebanese health ministry in Beirut.

Since October, violence in Lebanon has resulted in the deaths of approximately 607 individuals. While the majority of fatalities were Hezbollah combatants, at least 132 civilians have also lost their lives, according to an AFP count.

Advertisement On the Israeli side, including in the occupied Golan Heights, officials have reported at least 24 soldiers and 26 civilians killed.

Tens of thousands of people remain displaced on both sides.