During a divine mass held for the souls of the martyrs of the Lebanese resistance, under the auspices of Maronite Patriarch Bechara El Rai at the main headquarters in Maarab, Samir Geagea, the leader of the Lebanese Forces party, expressed his regret over the serious attempts to change everything in Lebanon to match the specifications of the resistance axis. He pointed out that "the crime of killing Elias Al-Hassruni is an indicator of the dialogue that the resistance axis has been proclaiming for months. It became evident that this crime was orchestrated, as the four cars involved came from Aita El Jabal, Bint Jbeil, Hnin, and Braashit. This is the defense of the Lebanese they boast about every day, and this is the dialogue they call for. The resistance team is a criminal team par excellence."
Geagea noted that "the resistance axis, particularly Hezbollah in Lebanon, acts as it pleases, outside of any law or constitution, far from the opinions of all other Lebanese." He clarified that "the time has come for the Lebanese to make a decision: Is the Lebanon we are living in now the Lebanon we want? Is this the Lebanon for which we have labored, sacrificed, and spent sleepless nights for generations? Is this the Lebanon for which we have shed blood countless times?"
He emphasized that "the Lebanese Forces have no problem with Hezbollah or other resistant parties as political groups, as the primary issue is related to their project for Lebanon, represented today by the current reality we are living. However, the bigger issue remains with the way they impose their project through force, compulsion, coercion, assassinations, and all sorts of twisted means unimaginable by any human mind."
He further stated that "we hear periodic lectures from Hezbollah leaders and the resistance axis about chastity, purity, and integrity, while they themselves supported the corrupt factions over the past decade to obtain essential service ministries, through which they practiced corruption at the highest levels and in the most atrocious ways, costing the state tens of billions of dollars. They have obstructed the formation of governments for months to secure the ministries of energy and public works for their allies, not to mention who has held the Ministry of Finance for the past ten years."
Geagea recalled that "the greatest example in this regard is the obstruction of the investigation into the Beirut Port explosion, which left more than 220 victims, thousands injured, and tens of thousands affected. Despite the magnitude of the tragedy that shook Lebanon and the world, Hezbollah did not blink an eye; instead, they threatened investigative judges and intervened ‘here and there’ until they succeeded in suspending the investigation... of course, at the present time."
He clarified that "the Lebanese Forces, from the moment of the Beirut Port explosion, alerted to the issue and sought international references to convince them that the local investigation would not lead to any truth or justice amid the dominance of illegal arms. From here, they demanded the formation of an international fact-finding committee for the port explosion, and they will continue to demand and intensify efforts, with the support of families and many local and international human rights organizations, to reach an investigation that reveals the truth so that the souls of the port martyrs may rest in peace."
Geagea stated that "the resistance axis has managed to commit all these atrocities and corruption and to obstruct the law through assassinations, violence, threats, and intimidation, and through a security-military apparatus entirely outside the state and the law, alongside 30 or 40 deputies belonging to them. Despite all these atrocities and corruption to the point of bankrupting every household and institution in Lebanon, ‘they still call you to dialogue!’ We say to Hezbollah: ‘If you are able to eat us, go ahead, we are standing – don’t wait for the moment we let you eat us while we are sitting next to you.’ We have learned from everything that has happened in the past; we learned from Rafik Hariri and the martyrs of the Cedar Revolution, we learned from May 7th, and we recently learned from Lokman Sleem and Elias Al-Hassruni."
He pointed out that "despite all the violations of the resistance axis, some still insist on making deals with Hezbollah, as if nothing happened in Khaala, Ain Ebel, Ain Ramana, or May 7th, or about Captagon and smuggling and corruption, in order to cover up a potential deal."
He added, "For about a year now, they have been trying to bring in a candidate loyal to them for the presidency through their obstructionist method. They declare day and night the need to elect a President of the Republic, while they paralyze the elections either by failing to call for sessions or attempting to dissolve them through their withdrawal under the pretext of a negative tie in the council. Let’s assume that this council may not be able to elect a new president, so why did you leave the first session instead of participating in a second, third, or tenth, when then we will see if this council succeeds in ending the vacuum?"
He questioned, "What is the reason for their calls for dialogue only at the time of the presidential election? Just recently, the elections for the presidency of the parliament took place under the current composition, and the elections were held, and the president was elected with 65 votes, and ‘everything was fine.’ So why when we reached the presidential elections ‘does it not work’ anymore, making this council divided, and now we need dialogue and ‘we need a General Assembly of the United Nations’? If the resistance axis had 65 votes for its candidate, would it have called for dialogue? The answer is simple: This axis is incapable of bringing its candidate to the presidency while refusing any alternatives."
He linked what is happening to the tale of "my elderly grandmother and the wolf," stating that "after all that they do, they call for dialogue." He concluded: "We are ready to endure the vacuum for months, but we are not ready to bear their burden and corruption, and they shall not enter Baabda."
