War of Words between Kataeb, Hezbollah in Lebanese Parliament

File photo: Lebanese members of parliament gather during a session on April 23, 2014, in downtown Beirut (AFP Photo/Joseph Eid)
File photo: Lebanese members of parliament gather during a session on April 23, 2014, in downtown Beirut (AFP Photo/Joseph Eid)
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War of Words between Kataeb, Hezbollah in Lebanese Parliament

File photo: Lebanese members of parliament gather during a session on April 23, 2014, in downtown Beirut (AFP Photo/Joseph Eid)
File photo: Lebanese members of parliament gather during a session on April 23, 2014, in downtown Beirut (AFP Photo/Joseph Eid)

A quarrel between the Kataeb party and Hezbollah took center stage on the second day of parliamentary sessions dedicated to discuss a policy statement ahead of granting the new government of Prime Minister Saad Hariri a vote of confidence.

The deputies exchanged accusations over corruption and malpractice.

The dispute started with Hezbollah MP Nawaf Moussawi when Kataeb leader MP Sami Gemayel asked whether Hezbollah ruled the current government.

Gemayel said he would not give a confidence vote to a cabinet in which ministers don’t trust each other.

“It is not right to have one political party drag the entire nation into trouble," he said.

When Gemayel recalled a statement made earlier by Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil who spoke about Hezbollah’s role in bringing Michel Aoun to the presidential seat, he was interrupted by Moussawi, who said “it honors the Lebanese that Aoun was elected through the rifle of the resistance while others reached the presidency on an Israeli tank,” in a hint to slain President-elect Bashir Gemayel.

The quarrel between the two parties intensified and the son of Bashir, MP Nadim Gemayel, hit back at Moussawi saying “You were throwing rice on the Israelis and most of you voted for President Bashir in this parliament.”

On Wednesday, most speeches dealt with fighting corruption.

MP Paula Yacoubian rejected to give her vote of confidence to the government, describing it as “a miniature of the parliamentary blocs that are supposed to be observing the cabinet's work.”

“How will the parliament be able to observe its own mini replica?" Yacoubian asked.

She accused Hezbollah of illegally hiring more than 5,500 employees in the lead-up to the May parliamentary elections. But Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah denied the accusations.

Discussions are expected to last until Saturday, when parliament should grant the new government its vote of confidence with the support of a majority of political blocs, excluding the Kataeb and some independent deputies.



Rescuers Say Israeli Strike Killed at Least 12 People in South Gaza 

Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli airstrike on a tent sheltering displaced people at the Gaza seaport, in Gaza City, June 4, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli airstrike on a tent sheltering displaced people at the Gaza seaport, in Gaza City, June 4, 2025. (Reuters)
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Rescuers Say Israeli Strike Killed at Least 12 People in South Gaza 

Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli airstrike on a tent sheltering displaced people at the Gaza seaport, in Gaza City, June 4, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli airstrike on a tent sheltering displaced people at the Gaza seaport, in Gaza City, June 4, 2025. (Reuters)

The civil defense agency in Gaza said an Israeli strike on a tent housing displaced Palestinians near the southern city of Khan Younis on Wednesday killed at least 12 people.  

"At least 12 people were killed, including several children and women, in a strike by an Israeli drone this morning on a tent for displaced persons" near Khan Younis, the agency's spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP, adding that four more people had been killed in other strikes.  

The Israeli army did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.  

Since a truce collapsed in March, Israel has intensified its operations to destroy Hamas, the Palestinian group whose October 7, 2023 attack triggered the war in Gaza. 

Hamas's unprecedented attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. 

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 4,240 people have been killed in the territory since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 54,510, mostly civilians.