Lebanon's Geagea Vows to Prevent Election of Pro-Hezbollah President

Head of the Lebanese Forces party Samir Geagea (Lebanese Forces)
Head of the Lebanese Forces party Samir Geagea (Lebanese Forces)
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Lebanon's Geagea Vows to Prevent Election of Pro-Hezbollah President

Head of the Lebanese Forces party Samir Geagea (Lebanese Forces)
Head of the Lebanese Forces party Samir Geagea (Lebanese Forces)

The head of the Lebanese Forces party, Samir Geagea, has rejected the election of a president from the so-called pro-Hezbollah March 8 Alliance, saying that his bloc might boycott the sessions to name a president to prevent the nomination of a candidate from the “Axis of Resistance.”

Geagea said that he is a "candidate for the presidency" but that his bid would only be valid if opposition MPs agreed to run a single candidate of their own.

Speaking at a press conference at his residence in Maarab on the presidential elections scheduled for next September, within the constitutional 60-day period to elect the head of state before President Michel Aoun's term expires, Geagea said: "we must elect a president capable of addressing the crisis and not avoiding it."

He added that Hezbollah is the leading actor behind the crisis in Lebanon, which confiscated the state’s strategic decision-making.

"The main factors that have brought upon us the current crisis are the confiscation of the state's strategic decisions, mismanagement, and corruption. It is also directly responsible for mismanagement through smuggling, for example, and through its alliance with the corrupt (individuals) in the country to cover its actions."

Geagea indicated that the presidential election should be the first step on the path to salvation, otherwise, the country will face the worst.

According to Geagea, the presidential elections include four possibilities: an opposition candidate or a candidate backed by the Axis of Resistance gets elected, warning that Lebanon will be isolated and lose all investments and international and Arab support.

He added that the third possibility is "a consensual President" who would "extend the hell we are living into six more years.”

The fourth option, asserted Geagea, is having a reformist president, stressing that "the opposition groups are the only ones capable of bringing such president” to power.

Geagea addressed the opposition and the independents, saying: "the ball is in our court [..] and we must form a coordination committee that will discuss the president who has the requirements."

He addressed the 67 opposition lawmakers, urging them to discuss the coordination committee required to agree on a single name for the presidency.

Geagea said Lebanese Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun refuses to discuss the presidency.

Geagea has long criticized the March 8 team's disruption of the presidential election sessions in 2016, which led to naming President Michel Aoun.



Netanyahu Says Israel Is Establishing a New Security Corridor across Gaza

An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)
An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)
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Netanyahu Says Israel Is Establishing a New Security Corridor across Gaza

An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)
An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is establishing a new security corridor across the Gaza Strip.

In a statement on Wednesday, he described it as the Morag corridor, using the name of a Jewish settlement that once stood between Rafah and Khan Younis, suggesting it would run between the two southern cities.

His comments came as Palestinian officials at hospitals inside Gaza said Israeli strikes overnight and into Wednesday had killed more than 40 people, nearly a dozen of them children.

The Israeli government has long maintained a buffer zone just inside Gaza along its security fence and has greatly expanded since the war against Hamas began in 2023. Israel says the buffer zone is needed for its security, while Palestinians view it as a land grab that further shrinks the narrow coastal territory, home to around 2 million people.