Lebanese former President Michel Aoun continued to break away from his ally Hezbollah by openly criticizing the party for opening the southern front to wage clashes with Israel in solidarity with Gaza.
He said: “We are not bound to Gaza with a defense treaty.”
He is the latest Christian figure that has been calling for keeping Lebanon away from the war in Gaza.
In a televised interview to his Free Patriotic Movement-affiliated OTV, Aoun said Lebanon was not bound by a defense treaty to Gaza. “However, one segment of the Lebanese people has taken this choice, while the government is incapable of taking a position. A victory would be for the nation, not a portion of it,” he added.
Moreover, he dismissed claims that the decision to go to war was aimed at preempting an Israeli attack on Lebanon. “Getting involved in a confrontation doesn’t lessen the danger, but increases it,” he stressed.
Furthermore, he also dismissed efforts to tie the developments in Gaza and the South to a deal over the Lebanese presidency.
Lebanon has been without a president since Aoun’s term ended in October 2022. Bickering between political parties has thwarted the election of a successor.
The dispute over the presidency is another issue that has driven a wedge between the FPM and Hezbollah. The party backs the nomination of Marada Movement leader Suleiman Franjieh, while the FPM does not. Its current leader, Gebran Bassil, has presidential aspirations even though he has not declared his candidacy.
Tensions deepened between the allies over Hezbollah’s participation in government sessions that approved various state appointments and its MPs’ participation in a parliament meeting that approved the extension of the term of the army commander.
The Christian Kataeb party has been another vocal critic of Hezbollah’s fighting against Israel in the South.
Following a meeting of its political bureau, headed by Kataeb leader MP Sami Gemayel, it slammed the “proliferation of destructive weapons in villages and residential areas and the phenomenon of tunnels that threaten to drag everyone and everything in the country to war that Lebanon and the Lebanese people don’t want.”
The only reasonable option available is for the Lebanese army to seize control of the situation, said the Kataeb in a statement. “Only the army has the authority before the people and international community to defend Lebanon and protect its borders” in cooperation with the United Nations peacekeeping force.
“Deterring attacks should not be entrusted to a militia that has usurped the state. Rather, it is the responsibility of legitimate institutions that operate according to the constitution and laws, and through active and effective diplomacy that supports the Lebanese army, demands a ceasefire and prevents the spillover of the war,” it stressed.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, refuses to discuss any issues related to the war before the conflict in Gaza is over.
Deputy party leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said in recent days: “Let it be clear, we have three ‘nos’: No backing down from supporting Gaza as long as the [Israeli] aggression continues. No to succumbing to Israeli or western threats, because we believe that defense is a duty and without it there can be no stability.”
“And no to any discussion about the future of southern Lebanon, both on the Lebanese and Palestinian side of the border, before the end of the aggression on Gaza,” he added.
