Lebanon: Hezbollah Warns Rivals Rejecting its Presidential Candidate of ‘Major Loss’

Lebanon’s Hezbollah members carry Hezbollah flags during the funeral of a fellow fighter in al-Ghaziyeh village, southern Lebanon May 26, 2015. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho
Lebanon’s Hezbollah members carry Hezbollah flags during the funeral of a fellow fighter in al-Ghaziyeh village, southern Lebanon May 26, 2015. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho
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Lebanon: Hezbollah Warns Rivals Rejecting its Presidential Candidate of ‘Major Loss’

Lebanon’s Hezbollah members carry Hezbollah flags during the funeral of a fellow fighter in al-Ghaziyeh village, southern Lebanon May 26, 2015. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho
Lebanon’s Hezbollah members carry Hezbollah flags during the funeral of a fellow fighter in al-Ghaziyeh village, southern Lebanon May 26, 2015. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho

The Hezbollah party escalated its rhetoric on Monday warning its political rivals in Lebanon of the repercussions of failing to support its presidential candidate, Marada leader Sueliman Franjieh, for the presidency.

Hezbollah has endorsed Franjieh for the top state post in return for appointing Former President of the United Nations Security Council Nawwaf Salam as prime minister.

On Monday, senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, said that crisis-hit Lebanon is passing through what he described as “a very dangerous stage,” and that the country is heading towards “chaos”, urging its rivals to head with the election of Franjieh as a solution for the crisis and presidential vacuum.

Lebanon has been without a president since the term of former president Michel Aoun ended on October 30.

France reportedly has been supporting the proposal for the election of Franjieh as president and the appointment of Salam as premier.

Safieddine said that the state’s institutions, including the judiciary, are “incapable” of carrying out their normal routine duties in light of what he said were “futile negotiations and accumulating conflicts.”

Indirectly warning its rivals to agree on Franjieh, he stated: “If the Lebanese do not quickly grasp what is being proposed, the time will come when they lose that privilege… Delay does not fall in their interest because they lost their confidence cards.”

Major Christian parties in Lebanon, mainly the Kataeb party and the Lebanese Forces, reject Hezbollah-backed Franjieh as candidate for the top state post.

The Hezbollah official also urged its rivals “not to waste more time,” and to “decide today on the candidate closest to winning the presidency, through dialogue and easing the predicaments in order to save the country.”

Unnamed sources linked Hezbollah’s rhetoric to the latest positions made by LF leader Samir Geagea.

Geagea and his allies vowed to obstruct any parliament sessions that could lead to the election of Franjieh as President.

The Our Lady of the Mountain, another Christian group, urged during its periodic meeting on Monday “all opposition groups (to Hezbollah) in Parliament and outside the parliament to meet and contribute to creating a political quorum.”

They demanded the eradication of Iranian “occupation” (hinting at Hezbollah’s influence), and invited parties to adhere to the Constitution, the National Accord and the decisions of the Arab and international legitimacy.



Abbas Denounces Israeli Gaza Offensive at UN, Insists: 'We Will Not Leave'

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York, US, September 26, 2024.   REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York, US, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
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Abbas Denounces Israeli Gaza Offensive at UN, Insists: 'We Will Not Leave'

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York, US, September 26, 2024.   REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York, US, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

The head of the Palestinian Authority denounced Israel and its offensive in the Gaza Strip in front of world leaders Thursday, appealing to other nations to stop what he called a “genocidal war” against a place and people he said had been totally destroyed.
Mahmoud Abbas used the rostrum of the UN General Assembly as he typically does — to criticize Israel. But this was the first time he did so since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas on Israel that triggered an Israeli military operation that has devastated the Gaza Strip.
Abbas strode to the podium to loud applause and a few unintelligible shouts. His first words were a sentence repeated three times: “We will not leave. We will not leave. We will not leave.”
He accused Israel of destroying Gaza and making it unlivable. And he said that his government should govern post-war Gaza as part of an independent Palestinian state, a vision that Israel’s hardline government rejects.
“Palestine is our homeland. It is the land of our fathers and our grandfathers. It will remain ours. And if anyone were to leave, it would be the occupying usurpers," The Associated Press quoted him as saying.
A nationwide series of campus protests against Israel's operations in Gaza swept the United States in the spring and largely originated at Columbia University, about 70 blocks north of the United Nations.
“The American people are marching in the streets in these demonstrations. We are appreciative of them," Abbas said.
Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 41,500 Palestinians and wounded more than 96,000 others, according to the latest figures released Thursday by the Health Ministry.

Abbas spent big chunks of his speech at the United Nations talking about the state of life in Gaza, and he painted a bleak picture.
"Entire family names have been written out of the civil record," he said. "Gaza is no longer fit for life. Most homes have been destroyed. The same applies for most buildings. ... Roads. Churches. Mosques. Water plants. Electric plants. Sanitation plants. Anyone who has gone to Gaza and known it before would not recognize it anymore.”
Among his demands, none of which are new: A full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip — not “buffer zones.” Allowing Gaza's displaced Palestinians — an estimated 90% of the population — to return to their homes. And a central role for Abbas' government in any future Gaza.
“Stop this crime. Stop it now. Stop killing children and women. Stop the genocide. Stop sending weapons to Israel. This madness cannot continue. The entire world is responsible for what is happening to our people in Gaza and the West Bank.”