Geagea slams 'reckless' Hezbollah as MP threatens to take up arms
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Monday said the military drill that Hezbollah carried out Sunday in the South is “totally rejected at a time that the Lebanese are struggling night and day and every moment to rebuild their state and regain Arab and international confidence in this state.”
“Hezbollah addressed a clear message to all Lebanese and the Arab and international communities by saying that ‘no matter how much you try and seek, we will not allow the rise of a real state in Lebanon,’” Geagea said.
“Hezbollah is totally mistaken if it believes that this drill can boost the chances of its presidential candidate,” he added.
“The drill is a reckless action that will only harm Lebanon … and benefit Israel,” the LF leader went on to say.
Kataeb Party chief Sami Gemayel for his part described the drill as “a provocation message against the Lebanese and the Arab Summit.”
MP Nadim Gemayel meanwhile said the military exercise was “a message to the domestic arena more than being a message to Israel,” threatening to “publicly carry arms and rebel against the state if officials do not take a stance over what happened.”
“I might call on our supporters to carry visible weapons and not stop at checkpoints, because we’re supposed to be equal,” he warned, in remarks to Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.
MP Ashraf Rifi for his part said “it was not a resistance movement that organized military parades, but rather a tool practicing hegemony.”
“You won’t terrorize anyone with these bravadoes and we will be in your face,” Rifi added.
“What you did contradicts with the spirit and text of the Taif Accord and remember that the ink of the resolutions of the Jeddah Arab Summit has not dried yet,” Rifi went on to say.
Hezbollah put on a show of force on Sunday, extending a rare media invitation to one of its training sites in southern Lebanon, where its forces staged a simulated military exercise.
Masked fighters jumped through flaming hoops, fired from the backs of motorcycles, and blew up Israeli flags posted in the hills above and a wall simulating the one at the border between Lebanon and Israel.
Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine said in a speech Sunday that the exercise was meant to "confirm our complete readiness to confront any aggression" by Israel.
22 May 2023, 15:42
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God bless our Shia resistance aka Hezbollah and the "Ahali" for organizing a military parade in the south within meters of our border with the Israeli enemy. This show of force serves to send two messages: one internal for those who believe they can bypass the democratic process of electing a new president and the second is external directed at the Zionist enemy. The enemy's military experts were seen in shock and despair at the readiness of our Shia resistance and are currently busy assessing their options. Our abidance by Resolution 1701 does not mean weakness!
Let no one be naive... the Shia resistance is here to stay whether it is the coast of Saida, Beirut, Tripoli or in the mountains of Metn.
We will not surrender
We will not submit
We will liberate
Shia Shea Shia
22 May 2023, 16:04
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I found this exercise comical, like children playing. It reminds me of when Indiana Jones has this sword-wavering guy in front of him, and then just shot him down with one shot! It might just impress parts of the shiah community, but there are much better ways to impress, like education and business. Lebanon needs liberation allright, from the Iranian tentacles.
22 May 2023, 19:40
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Iran's Foreign Legion armgames are not directed against Israel, but a warning to Lebanese sovereign leaders and regions. Hizb has protected Israel's borders for years as Nassralah and Netanyahu are 2 sides of the same coin and need each other to justify their brutality and build support. Lebanon is under Basij occupation. Duo and FPM have transformed Lebanon into hell, bankrupted a country and stole people lifetime savings and retirements funds, destroying their past, present and future. They turned Lebanon into Banana Republic and a beggar nation with no dignity of respect. Any person who loves his family and country understands there are only 2 solutions: Liberate the country from Basij occupation or divide the country. These wargames are a direct threats and a reminder of the occupier force. Anyone not calling for ending Basij occupation and disarming all militias, especially criminal Hizbollah, is committing Grand Treason!
23 May 2023, 19:08
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One of these years, and the sooner the better, the leaders and people of Lebanon will finally realise that the big enemy of their country is Iran's control and financing of Hizballah, and not as they have been lead for years to believe, Israel.
