The head of the Lebanese Kataeb Party, MP Sami Gemayel, said that “a new page in Lebanon’s history has been opened today,” expressing his hope that “it will be bright, and that all friendly countries will stand by Lebanon to restore its progress.”
In an interview with Al Arabiya, he pointed out that “President of the Republic Joseph Aoun is the first president to be elected after the war in a country liberated from any guardianship, and for this reason his speech was unprecedented in the last 30 years,” indicating that “all presidents either came during the time of Syrian guardianship or during a period in which “Hezbollah” was in control of the decision, and it was forbidden for any president to talk about the interests of his country and for his speech to be as clear as President Aoun’s speech, which is the natural and logical speech that all Lebanese are waiting for.”
Gemayel stressed that “this new page means Lebanon has officially become outside Iran’s Axis of Resistance and is able to decide its fate without any guardianship from anyone, and it is our responsibility to support all of Lebanon’s friends and the international community to help and support the President of the Republic to achieve what he has committed to,” pledging to “defend the discourse that fully represents us and stand by it, and exert all our efforts to make this project a success because it is the only salvation for Lebanon.”
He stressed that “it is important to us that the ceasefire agreement be implemented and that Israel withdraws from Lebanon, and that the Lebanese army be deployed across all Lebanese territories as the President of the Republic pledged.”
Regarding the Syrian file, he explained that “all we aspire to are equal relations based on mutual respect between our two countries, and this begins with demarcating the real borders between Lebanese and Syrian territories, as well as political borders, so that each country respects the sovereignty of the other and establishes equal and diplomatic relations.”
The Axis of Resistance is an informal coalition of Iranian-backed militias and political organizations across the Middle East. Formed by Iran, it unites actors committed to increase Iran’s influence in the Middle East . Hezbollah in Lebanon was considered a key member of the group, but after its devastating war with Israel and the collapse of the Assad regime it was greatly weakened . The ceasefire deal with Israel calls for disarming all militant groups in Lebanon, including Hezbollah and Palestinian refugee camps.
Syrian president Bashar al Assad and his father before him treated Lebanon as part of Syria and refused to demarcate its borders withe Lebanon