“Hezbollah’s Sunday Military Maneuvers Spark Objections and Criticism”

The “Hezbollah” military maneuver that it carried out on Sunday in the Armati region, in southern Lebanon, continues to gain Lebanese attention, as its opponents saw it as a flagrant infringement on Lebanese sovereignty, while the party’s deputy secretary-general, Naim Qassem, said that the maneuver is the first of its kind. From the party in Lebanon, a message of steadfastness and readiness, and he responded to the objectors, saying: “Their words are neither advanced nor delayed.”

In the first official position on the maneuver, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati affirmed that the Lebanese government “rejects any manifestation that constitutes a diminution of the state’s authority and sovereignty.” However, he added, “The problem related to the issue of (Hezbollah’s) weapons is linked to a reality that requires a comprehensive national reconciliation.” Mikati was speaking in response to an “inquiry” by the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Joanna Frontska, who visited him at the Grand Serail.

The Prime Minister touched on the situation in the south, stressing the “existing cooperation between the army and UNIFIL forces within the United Nations area of ​​operations, and Lebanon’s commitment to International Resolution No. 1701,” and requested that “the UN Security Council exert its efforts to establish a permanent ceasefire in the south, and put pressure on Israel.” To stop its violations of Lebanese sovereignty.

Mikati affirmed, according to a statement, that “the Lebanese government rejects any appearance that constitutes a diminution of the state’s authority and sovereignty, but the problem related to the issue of (Hezbollah’s) weapons in particular is linked to a reality that requires a comprehensive national consensus, which must be a priority for the next stage.” At the present time, the government is stressing on preserving security stability on all Lebanese territory and not taking any action that may destabilize it.

Hezbollah carried out the maneuver on Sunday, in the presence of local and foreign media correspondents, as it used live and heavy weapons from tanks and rocket launchers, and included a simulation of storming Israeli territory by detonating the separation wall and entering through it.

In this context, the head of the “Lebanese Forces” party, Samir Geagea, confirmed that the military maneuver conducted by “Hezbollah” is completely unacceptable, and said in a statement: “At a time when the Lebanese are struggling day and night and every moment to rebuild their state and restore Arab confidence.” And internationalism in this state, (Hezbollah) sent a clear message to all the Lebanese, and the Arab and international communities, to the effect that no matter how hard you try and strive, we will not allow the establishment of an actual state in Lebanon.

He added, “At a time when the region has witnessed some positive steps in the past two months that indicate the possibility of returning to normal, the latest signs in this regard were what was issued in the sixth item of the decisions of the Arab Summit in Jeddah, which was held last Friday in terms of (total rejection). to support the formation of armed groups and militias outside the scope of state institutions). It continues as it has been in the last twenty years.

Geagea believed that “if (Hezbollah) believes that this maneuver can increase the chances of its presidential candidate, then it is completely wrong,” concluding by saying: “In conclusion; The maneuver is a reckless act that will only harm Lebanon and the hopes of its people for the establishment of an actual state that will alleviate its suffering, and it will only negatively affect some of the atmosphere of détente that has recently prevailed in the Arab region, and therefore a step (maneuver) that only Israel will benefit from.

For his part, George Aqis, a deputy in the “forces”, wrote on his Twitter account, saying: “Hezbollah’s military maneuvers come at this moment in an attempt to prove that the Saudi-Iranian agreement will not change the internal equation and will not undermine the pillars of the mini-state.” And he asked: “Hezbollah sends messages that suit it, so what about the sovereigns, how do they prepare the response? And how will they implement their popular mandate that was given to them to stand up to him?”, Stressing that “the appropriate response is to choose a candidate for the presidency that represents the aspirations of the opposition and guarantees the sovereignty of the state and the exclusivity of weapons in it, and to go to a democratic battle capable of proving the choice of the majority of the Lebanese and imposing it not only on Hezbollah, but The countries of the whole world, which will have no choice but to respect the will of the majority of the Lebanese.

The same refusal was expressed by the deputy of the “forces” Saeed Al-Asmar, addressing “Hezbollah” via Twitter: “The show of force that you made does not concern us or frighten us. There is no interest above the interest of our country and our people, and there is no formula that protects and preserves Lebanon and the Lebanese, except for the army, the people and the state.

Representative Ibrahim Mneimneh described Hezbollah’s maneuver as a “message with empty meanings.”

Mneimneh added, “Once again, we call for seizing the regional and international moment to lay the foundations for an inevitable internal consensus on defense and foreign policy in a way that guarantees the state’s reference, intersecting with a project to economically rebuild the plundered state.”

In turn, the “National Council for Lifting the Iranian Occupation of Lebanon” and the “Meeting of Our Lady of the Mountain” spoke in a statement, after they held a joint meeting about the marginalization of the role of the Lebanese army and Resolution 1701, and less than a month after the Iranian Foreign Minister’s visit to the south to say that Iran is on the borders of Israel, He said, “Here, Hezbollah is carrying out a maneuver with live ammunition, in the presence of Lebanese and non-Lebanese media professionals, in an unprecedented show of force through which the party wanted to send messages to the inside and outside.”

And he believed that “Hezbollah’s maneuver is read at its timing at a regional moment that is witnessing rapid changes that the party is trying to employ by consecrating its victory within Lebanon, especially in the battle for the presidency of the republic, on the basis that any new president of Lebanon not only has to recognize the party’s weapons, but also that It guarantees its freedom to use it outside any Lebanese consensus, meaning that this maneuver confirms what is certain in terms of that Hezbollah wants to form a state belonging to it in Lebanon, starting with the presidency of the republic, protecting its weapons and covering its movement at home and abroad.

The statement reaffirmed that “Lebanon is under Iranian occupation today more than ever before, and therefore the battle for the presidency of the republic is not a battle over the names of the candidates for the presidency, but rather a battle to overthrow the political effects of the Iranian occupation by preventing Hezbollah from imposing its strategic choices on Lebanon, starting with From the presidency of the republic, and by the power of his weapon, which is rejected by the vast majority of the Lebanese.

Despite all these criticisms, Deputy Secretary-General of “Hezbollah” Naim Qassem responded to his critics, and said: “The maneuver is the first of its kind by (Hezbollah) in Lebanon, and it is a message of stability and readiness, stability that achieved victories, deterrent readiness and readiness for the time of liberation, and therefore The Israeli entity and the world that supports it must know fully that Hezbollah’s resistance is not a fleeting resistance, but rather it is rooted in the land, and aspires to achieve liberation and independence, and is ready to sacrifice the dear and the cheap to restore the land, morale, pride and dignity.

Qassem said at a celebration in southern Lebanon on the “Resistance and Liberation Day”: “The Israeli understands the meaning of this maneuver and some of those who criticized it at home. It is delayed, and they basically did not protect the resistance, but rather always threw it away.

He added, “We did not possess weapons to search for a political role at home, as our popularity guarantees this role, but for the sake of resistance, without which Lebanon would not have been liberated, but rather Israel would cut off settlements from it.