Bassil warns against civil strife, calls for unity and awareness

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil visited Friday President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Speaker Nabih Berri and Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, in a series of meetings aimed at averting civil strife.

Bassil urged all Lebanese to maintain a patriotic stance and spare their children the bitterness of internal conflict. "One hundred days of foreign war are better than a single day of civil war — though we want neither," he said, as he accused certain domestic actors of seeking an internal conflict as a means to end the Israeli aggression, a clear reference to the FPM’s long-standing rivals, the Lebanese Forces.

"National unity is the only path for Lebanon to emerge safely from this war," he stated following his meeting with Berri.

Earlier on Friday, Bassil called for dialogue, urging that the language of reason, wisdom, and awareness be prioritized over extremism, confrontation, and internal division.

"Even as an opposition party, we stand behind the State and its legitimacy. The solution lies in the State and the Army maintaining a monopoly on arms and decision-making, alongside a complete Israeli withdrawal," Bassil said.

"Protecting Lebanon requires shielding it from regional conflicts through a formal defense strategy and a just peace that restores Lebanon’s full rights,", Bassil said.

"We reject internal strife, Israeli occupation, and Syrian interference alike," he added.