The head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Gebran Bassil, explained, “In the year 2006, we agreed to call our rapprochement with Hezbollah an understanding, and it was not bilateral because we called on all Lebanese to join it and even to amend it in a way that suits it to make it collective and its goal is to protect Lebanon, and every understanding or alliance could benefit or be harmed by one party, depending on the circumstances.” He pointed out in a statement that "the movement did not change its political positioning, because this positioning is recognized by everyone, even those who disagree with it, is only Lebanese. When Hezbollah made choices that did not serve the Lebanese interest, a dispute occurred, but this does not mean that there is a possibility of eliminating a Lebanese component, whether Shiite, Sunni, or Christian." Bassil continued, "The understandings between the Lebanese components should not be cancelled. The political division is on some points and the division is on others, and the matter should not turn into a state of hostility. The Lebanese cannot be hostile to each other, but rather they must live together. This is Lebanon's formula.." He continued, "We disagreed with Hezbollah before the support war on building the state during the era of President Michel Aoun and on the national partnership at the end of the era because of the party's choices in the presidency and others," explaining that "the basic pursuit of the understanding document was what we called at the time to Lebanese Hezbollah, not in the sense that it is not Lebanese and must become so, but in the sense of the options. It is a Lebanese people and component, and its Lebanese choices should be prior to any other choice, and its Lebanese axis comes before any other axis." He explained, "The third pillar of the understanding, i.e. the defensive strategy, collapsed when Hezbollah launched an attack and was no longer in a state of defense. Unfortunately, this attack broke the state of deterrence that Hezbollah had formed and it was no longer able to defend Lebanon. Breaking the balance of power led to the situation we have reached."