We do not have to remain drawn into war in Gaza

The head of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gebran Bassil, confirmed during a Ramadan iftar in Jbeil that “Lebanon’s advantage is not the church and the mosque next to each other, as this exists in many countries… Lebanon’s advantage is in living in real partnership and in a true partnership that we call equal because our constitution stipulates that and because we do not deal with each other.” “Not by the logic of numbers or strength.”

He said: “I do not know how we can be victorious over Israel when our state is collapsed, our economy is in the ground, our institutions are disintegrating, our national unity is threatened, and our partnership is at stake,” adding: “When someone believes that he can control the rest of his fellow citizens and defeats Israel, he is delusional.”

Bassil continued: “It is self-evident that we preserve our national unity, our state and its institutions, and that we have a president so that he can be the first to resist any attack, occupation, or rape, whether it comes from terrorism or from an Israeli enemy.”

He added: “When a war breaks out on our borders, our priority must be to elect a president and not wait for the end of the Gaza war to end the war in the south and then elect the president… By what logic, right, or concept is it permissible for us to do this to our country? What is the benefit and who benefits?

Bassil asked: “Are they waiting for a big settlement that imposes a president on us?” Does this matter achieve peace and justice among citizens?” He added: “There is no major settlement coming soon and there is no major victor in the ongoing war, and every delay in a solution costs all of us Muslims and Christians greatly.”

He said: “What we are doing to our country is forbidden, and it is forbidden for us to think that it is with the gun alone, despite its importance and need when anyone uses it against us… It is forbidden for us to think that only with the gun will Lebanon win… Lebanon wins above all with its diverse culture.”

He continued: “All the Lebanese today do not want war in Lebanon… Let someone tell me that he wants war!” America and Iran do not want war in Lebanon! There is Netanyahu who wants it… Should we give it to him so he can kill and destroy more? Or do we adopt a policy that separates Lebanon from Gaza and demand a ceasefire in Lebanon?

Bassil continued: “I understand that we wage a war in favor of Lebanon, but if we wage wars that are not in Lebanon’s favor, this is incomprehensible,” adding: “As long as we agree that we are all against Israel and that we are all with the resistance against Israel, if it attacks Lebanon, why should we lose this great value?” “

He pointed out that “whoever is waiting for Israel to attack Lebanon is known and exposed, and every month he sets a new date, and now he has set a new date, which is April 15, for Israel to attack Beirut, and he is “happy” and waiting and contemplating the return of the war so that he can bring his weapons to the ground… These people reveal themselves and are rejected by the people without us needing to do anything. “With something.”

He said: “We are not forced to remain drawn into a war in Gaza. We do not know when it will end, we do not know the extent of its impact and consequences on Lebanon, and we do not know whether the three hundred martyrs become three thousand, and the seven hundred completely destroyed homes become seven thousand, and the five thousand partially destroyed homes become fifty thousand.” ! So what are we waiting for? Do we wait to confirm Netanyahu’s crimes, or do we maintain the equation of power and deterrence, build on it, and strengthen it? Are we tying ourselves up with conflicts that are not ours and that have cost us great costs, and are we prolonging them? And we extend it for whom? For whose benefit?