Shiite ministers Rakan Nassereddine, Tamara el-Zein, Mohammad Haydar, and Fadi Makki withdrew on Thursday from the Council of Ministers meeting devoted to examining the roadmap drawn up by Washington to consolidate the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel and help the country get back on its feet in terms of security and the economy.
The ministers withdrew from the session to protest the government's refusal to postpone consideration of the document until after August 31, the date on which the army is supposed to submit its plan for disarming armed groups before the end of the year. The meeting was to continue without them.
The Cabinet meeting, held at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, opened shortly after 3 PM under the chairmanship of President Joseph Aoun.
Prior to the session, the president held a half-hour one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. The meeting was entirely dedicated to discussing the roadmap proposed by Washington to consolidate the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel and help the country recover, both in terms of security and the economy.
The session is being held in the presence of the Shiite ministers (with the exception of Finance Minister Yassine Jaber, who is currently abroad), who have voiced strong reservations about the authorities’ decision to disarm all armed groups in Lebanon by the end of the year. Two of them, Rakan Nassereddine and Tamara Elzein, had walked out of Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting in protest against the decision.
Before Thursday’s session began, Administrative Development Minister Fadi Makki, who had refrained from joining his two colleagues in their walkout on Tuesday, stated that he planned to “voice his position independently during the session.”
On Tuesday, Makki had tried to persuade both the president and the government not to set a deadline for Hezbollah’s disarmament, suggesting instead that a thorough assessment of the situation on the ground be conducted first.
While he ruled out boycotting Thursday’s session, he remained vague about what stance he would take should the government approve the US proposals.
Asked whether he would leave the session if the four Shiite ministers walked out, he replied, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
He added, “A session without political consensus does not serve the public interest.”
Hezbollah Hits Back
As the Cabinet convened in Baabda, Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc released a strongly worded statement condemning what he called “the government's apparent alignment with U.S. demands, demands the group says serve Israeli interests and threaten to place Lebanon under American tutelage”.
The statement accused “certain officials of blindly following foreign diktats and caving to American pressure, with no regard for Lebanon’s higher national interest or the need to preserve internal unity.”
In its familiar rhetoric, Hezbollah lashed out at Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, accusing him of backtracking on the commitments outlined in his ministerial policy statement. The group also took aim at President Joseph Aoun, claiming that the government's consideration of the U.S.-proposed roadmap is fundamentally at odds with the president’s inaugural address.
The bloc slammed what it described as the government’s “suspicious and irrational rush” to adopt Washington’s proposals, calling it a “clear violation of the spirit of the National Pact and a threat to the foundational principles of the Taif Agreement” which Hezbollah says enshrines Lebanon’s right to self-defense.
“The desperate push to target the Resistance’s weapons offers Israel a free service,” the statement read, “stripping Lebanon of one of its key sources of strength at a time of relentless Israeli aggression, daily violations of sovereignty, and ongoing assassinations of civilians and resistance fighters alike.”
Doubling down on its narrative, Hezbollah urged the government to “reassert the primacy of the national interest” and activate all available tools, especially what it described as a “long-dormant Lebanese diplomacy”, to pressure Israel into implementing the terms of the ceasefire agreement. Lebanon, it noted, has fully complied with its obligations, unlike Israel.
According to the bloc, “the real priority for the government should be developing a comprehensive national defense strategy, one that ensures Lebanon can protect its land, sovereignty, and people without compromise”.
Comments