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.



Israeli Settlers Briefly Crossed into Lebanon, the Military Says

UN "blue line" notifications are pictured near the Lebanese-Israeli border as seen from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, Lebanon October 14, 2022. (Reuters)
UN "blue line" notifications are pictured near the Lebanese-Israeli border as seen from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, Lebanon October 14, 2022. (Reuters)
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Israeli Settlers Briefly Crossed into Lebanon, the Military Says

UN "blue line" notifications are pictured near the Lebanese-Israeli border as seen from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, Lebanon October 14, 2022. (Reuters)
UN "blue line" notifications are pictured near the Lebanese-Israeli border as seen from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, Lebanon October 14, 2022. (Reuters)

A group of Israeli settlers have briefly crossed the border into Lebanon before they were removed by troops, the military acknowledged Wednesday.

The civilians who crossed the border came from the Uri Tzafon movement, a group calling for Israeli settlement of southern Lebanon. Photos posted by the group online Saturday showed a small group of activists holding signs and erecting tents inside Lebanon while Israeli soldiers were present.

After first denying the reports to Israeli media, the military said Wednesday that civilians had crossed the border “by a few meters” and were removed by troops.

The military called the border breach a “serious incident” and said it was investigating.

“Any attempt to approach or cross the border into Lebanese territory without coordination poses a life-threatening risk and interferes with the IDF’s ability to operate in the area and carry out its mission,” the military said, using the acronym for the Israel Defense Forces.

The settler group Uri Tzafon, which means “Awaken the North” in Hebrew, crossed the border in the area of the Lebanese village of Maroun al-Ras. In the past, the movement has said the area is home to an old Hebrew settlement.

Groups of settler activists also have breached the Gaza border more than once since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, at one point erecting small wooden tents before they were evacuated by troops. Daniela Weiss, the leader of the movement to resettle Gaza, claims she has entered Gaza twice since the start of the war.

Israel’s settler movement has been emboldened by its current government -- the furthest-right in Israeli history -- and is now seeking to expand to parts of southern Lebanon and the north of the Gaza.