Lebanese Forces party leader Samir Geagea strongly criticized the state’s failure to resolve the issue of illegal weapons and to act amid ongoing Israeli attacks. He warned that Lebanon remains dangerously exposed due to the government's inability to assert exclusive control over military decision-making.
In a statement issued Friday, Geagea dismissed symbolic gestures and verbal condemnations of Israel as meaningless without concrete action. “There is nothing heroic about calling the enemy an enemy,” he said. “True heroism lies in officials taking the necessary practical steps to avoid the dangers posed by this enemy.”
He emphasized the daily risks faced by Lebanese citizens, calling it “absolutely unacceptable” that they continue to live under constant threat of aggression. Geagea stressed the urgent need for international support to halt Israel’s military operations and to ensure its withdrawal from the remaining occupied Lebanese territories. However, he noted that such support “hinges on the Lebanese state asserting full sovereignty over weapons and decisions of war and peace.”
He added that “everyone knows that our Arab, European, and American friends are not willing to help a state that does not possess exclusive control over arms and, by extension, the authority to decide on matters of war and peace.”
Geagea pointed to a broad framework of legal and political commitments that support disarming non-state actors in Lebanon, including the Taif Agreement, UN Security Council Resolutions 1559, 1680, and 1701, as well as the 2024 ceasefire agreement signed by a cabinet in which Hezbollah held a ministerial majority. He claimed that these align with the will of the vast majority of Lebanese, who aspire to a sovereign and functional state.
“All of these point to one clear demand: dismantle illegal armed groups and place all weapons under the sole authority of the state — only then can a real state exist in Lebanon,” he stated.
Geagea called for immediate and decisive action from the Lebanese authorities. “Given all these compelling reasons, nothing justifies the state’s delay in fulfilling its duties to protect Lebanon and its people. And if anyone has a practical solution other than mourning the darkness day and night while continuing to live in it, then let them step forward.”
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