In an interview with journalist Darius Rochepin on the French LCI channel, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Youssef Raji confirmed that the distinction between the political and military wings of Hezbollah is completely unrealistic, stressing that the party is a single integrated entity that represents an illegal military organization on Lebanese territory, and is nothing but an armed arm of Iran that it uses to destabilize the entire Middle East region. Raji took the opportunity to express his deepest appreciation to the UNIFIL soldiers from the French battalion who served for nearly fifty years in southern Lebanon, offering his highest salutes to those who fell by the dozens while carrying out their mission, stressing that they were not killed on a battlefield but were assassinated treacherously, and they are soldiers of peace who came to maintain peace, not to wage war. When asked who bears responsibility for these crimes, he pointed out that multiple factions and parties bear this responsibility, stressing that Lebanon will never forget the sacrifices of these soldiers. Regarding the Iranian file, Raji stressed that the Iranian people are an ancient people with a great civilization, but for nearly fifty years they have been hostage to an absolute totalitarian regime that derives its legitimacy from the alleged divine right, and does not hesitate to shed the blood of its people without the slightest remorse, adding that this regime has sown chaos and terror and sowed unrest in the Middle East region and its extensions around the world, and has always been the source of Lebanon and the region’s suffering. Regarding the Lebanese situation, Raji explained that the Lebanese people have suffered for fifty years of successive wars carried out on their land, pointing out that Hezbollah has dragged Lebanon into a quagmire from which it cannot find a way out, and that the military option has proven its complete inability to achieve any solution. He pointed out that the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister showed rare courage when they opened the door to direct negotiations with Israel with the aim of reaching a ceasefire and enabling about a million displaced people to return to their homes. Regarding the possibility of a handshake between Lebanon and Israel and achieving peace, Raji said that peace requires conditions and the creation of appropriate conditions, the most important of which is that Israel withdraw from southern Lebanon and stop its aggression, which has affected many innocent civilians on the side of the fighters, adding: “A person must dream of peace, and after that we will see.”