Lebanon: Questions Raised over FPM’s Strategic Alliance with Hezbollah

Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah (L) shakes hands with Christian leader Michel Aoun during a news conference in Beirut, Feb. 6, 2006. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah (L) shakes hands with Christian leader Michel Aoun during a news conference in Beirut, Feb. 6, 2006. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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Lebanon: Questions Raised over FPM’s Strategic Alliance with Hezbollah

Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah (L) shakes hands with Christian leader Michel Aoun during a news conference in Beirut, Feb. 6, 2006. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah (L) shakes hands with Christian leader Michel Aoun during a news conference in Beirut, Feb. 6, 2006. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

The relationship between Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) has once again raised questions, with striking statements by the head of the FPM, MP Gebran Bassil, who said that the Mar Mikhael agreement signed by Lebanese President Michel Aoun with the party’s secretary general in 2006 “succeeded in preventing sedition but failed to build a nation.”

In recent media comments, Bassil announced that the presence of arms outside the authority of the Lebanese Army “is not normal, but an exceptional situation that must not continue.”

His remarks came following leaked information about differences between him and the representatives of the Shiite duo – Amal Movement and Hezbollah – over the formation of a new government.

Sources close to Hezbollah refused to comment on Bassil’s words.

“It is not the first time that Bassil launches such positions and it will not be the last; but our policy in dealing with our allies is not to comment in the media, but during our private meetings, if any,” the sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

On the other hand, FPM sources denied disputes between the movement and Hezbollah, saying Bassil had already spoken about the failures and the achievements of the Mar Mikhael agreement.

The sources explained that Bassil admitted that the presence of weapons outside the framework of the Lebanese army was not normal, “but at the same time he stressed that (Hezbollah)’s arms have protected Lebanon.”

“Discussing the defense strategy today is not a priority in light of all the economic, political and social crises that Lebanon is suffering from,” they added.

In comments to Asharq Al-Awsat, political analyst Qassem Kassir said that the head of the FPM “is trying to preserve all political options internally and externally.”

“Through his declared positions, Bassil wants to show that he is keen on his relationship with the party, but at the same time he puts forward new ideas that may open new opportunities for him.”

In response to a question about the party’s position on Bassil’s approach, Kassir said: “The party is keen on maintaining a good relationship with the FPM and does not want to pressure it at the moment.”

On the other hand, Lebanese Forces MP Wehbi Qatisha described Bassil’s words as “Hollywood stances.”

“When Bassil’s popularity erodes due to the alliance with Hezbollah - as we head towards the parliamentary elections - he resorts to such positions, which do not reflect his real stance,” Qatisha said.

“He is allied with the party but wants to send a message to his supporters to tell them that there are differences [with Hezbollah]. This is not true,” he added.



Israel Cuts off Gaza’s Southern City of Rafah, Vows to ‘Vigorously’ Expand in the Territory

 Displaced Palestinians flee from east to west of Gaza City after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders in the area, Friday April 11, 2025. (AP)
Displaced Palestinians flee from east to west of Gaza City after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders in the area, Friday April 11, 2025. (AP)
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Israel Cuts off Gaza’s Southern City of Rafah, Vows to ‘Vigorously’ Expand in the Territory

 Displaced Palestinians flee from east to west of Gaza City after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders in the area, Friday April 11, 2025. (AP)
Displaced Palestinians flee from east to west of Gaza City after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders in the area, Friday April 11, 2025. (AP)

Israel announced Saturday it has completed construction of a new security corridor that cuts off the southern city of Rafah from the rest of Gaza, as the military said it would soon expand "vigorously" in most of the small coastal territory. Palestinians were further squeezed into shrinking areas of land.

"Soon, (military) activity will expand rapidly to additional locations throughout most of Gaza and you will have to evacuate the fighting zones," Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement, without saying where Palestinians were meant to go.

The statement urged Palestinians to stand up and remove Hamas and release the remaining hostages, saying: "This is the only way to stop the war." There was no immediate Hamas response.

Israeli troops were deployed last week to the new security corridor referred to as Morag, the name of a Jewish settlement that once stood between Rafah and Khan Younis, after the army ordered sweeping evacuations covering most of Rafah, indicating it could soon launch another major ground operation.

Israel has vowed to seize large parts of Gaza to pressure Hamas to release the remaining 59 hostages, 24 of them believed to be alive, and accept proposed new ceasefire terms.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has also imposed a monthlong blockade on food, fuel and humanitarian aid that has left the territory’s roughly 2 million Palestinians facing acute shortages as supplies dwindle — a tactic that rights groups say is a war crime.

Israel has claimed that enough supplies entered Gaza during the two-month ceasefire that it shattered last month. Aid groups have disputed that.

Netanyahu has said Morag would be "a second Philadelphi corridor," referring to the Gaza side of the border with Egypt farther south, which has been under Israeli control since May 2024. Israel has also reasserted control of the Netzarim corridor, which cuts off Gaza's northern third from the rest of the territory.

The corridors, coupled with a buffer zone that Israel has razed and expanded, give it more than 50% control of the territory.

Katz said Palestinians interested in "voluntarily" relocating to other countries would be able to as part of a proposal by US President Donald Trump. Palestinians have rejected the proposal and expressed their determination to remain in their homeland.

Trump and Israeli officials have not said how they would respond if Palestinians refuse to leave Gaza. But Human Rights Watch and other groups say the plan would amount to "ethnic cleansing" — the forcible relocation of the civilian population of an ethnic group from a geographic area.

Many Palestinians have been crowding into squalid tent camps or the rubble of their previous homes, often displacing multiple times in response to Israel's evacuation orders since the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, killed some 1,200 people, many of them civilians, and sparked the war.

Israel on Saturday ordered the evacuation of areas east of Khan Younis ahead of an attack. Military spokesperson Avichay Adraee added that fighters had fired rockets into Israel from these areas.

Israeli strikes across Gaza continued, killing at least 21 people in the last 24 hours, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants but says most of the over 50,000 Palestinians killed in the war have been women and children.

The ministry said at least 1,500 people have been killed since Israel's surprise bombardment resumed the war last month.

Israel says it has killed around 20,000 fighters in the war, without providing evidence.