The leader of the Lebanese Forces, a Christian political party in Lebanon, sounded the alarm on Hezbollah and the low-level conflict with Israel that it has brought on Lebanon. His comments were published by the Associated Press this week and represent an important development in the Lebanese political landscape. They coincide with a BBC report that also revealed how the ongoing clashes have led some areas in Southern Lebanon to be deserted.
Hezbollah pretends that it is waging a successful war on Israel. In Israel, there is concern that this is the new normal, and there were reports on Ynet on Thursday that were discussed and disputed among the security establishment about how best to deal with Hezbollah.
However, not only in Israel is the war ruffling feathers. Samir Geagea slammed Hezbollah for its seven months of clashes with Israel that have harmed Lebanon.
“No one has the right to control the fate of a country and people on its own,” Geagea said. “Hezbollah is not the government in Lebanon. There is a government in Lebanon in which Hezbollah is represented.”
“All the damage that could have happened in Gaza… happened. What was the benefit of military operations that were launched from South Lebanon? Nothing,” Geagea stated.
Geagea is a unique figure in Lebanese politics. He was formerly a commander in the Lebanese Forces when it was an armed group during the civil war in Lebanon. It was dissolved in 1986. Saudi Arabia helped broker a peace deal in Lebanon in 1990 to end the war.
Who is Samir Geagea?
He was then appointed Minister of State in 1990 but refused a role in government due to the Syrian occupation of the country. As revenge, Syria likely helped engineer his arrest and solitary confinement in prison for many years.
Geagea was later released after the Syrians were expelled in 2005 when Hezbollah murdered former Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri.
He has been outspoken in the past and his political faction has improved its standing in Lebanon in recent years. Not all the Christian parties in Lebanon oppose Hezbollah; Michel Aoun, another Christian leader, has been known to have worked with Hezbollah.
Lebanon may be tiring of the excesses of Hezbollah and of how it is dragging the country into conflict. Hezbollah, for instance, backed the Iranian attack on Israel on April 13-14 and showed itself to be more of a proxy of Iran than a “defender” of Lebanon.