The head of the Lebanese Forces Party, Samir Geagea, issued the following statement: I had hoped, in this delicate circumstance that Lebanon is going through, not to enter into debates with anyone, but what Sheikh Naim Qassem said yesterday, one cannot let go unnoticed. Sheikh Naim accused the President of the Republic of violating the Constitution and the Taif Agreement, while the one who violated the Constitution and the Taif Agreement for decades is you, and there is no need to expand much on this point, because it is crystal clear, by virtue of your confiscating the state’s decision and disposing of it as you wish, and contrary to the interests of the Lebanese and the Lebanese state, and contrary to the Constitution from its first line to the last line. Sheikh Naeem also addressed the sovereigns, saying: “Why don’t you resist the aggression?” Our response: We are the first to resist from the first moment until the present moment, but in the appropriate and proper way and in a way that led to appropriate and proper results, and not in your way, as your resistance led to the opposite of what you claim, by bringing in Israel to occupy the south and the silence of the entire world regarding this occupation because of your scandalous role. Sheikh Naeem said: “If some accept surrender, we do not accept it.” To Sheikh Naim, we say: We are the first to not accept surrender, but refusal to surrender does not mean giving Israel, the world, and the friends of Lebanon all kinds of excuses to keep Israel in Lebanon, while the actual resistance is by gathering Lebanon’s friends around it, and establishing an actual state that works to remove Israel from its land. As for your saying, “The problem is not the resistance but Israel,” what is meant is to keep your weapons, and there is no need to remind that this weapon originally exists for Iranian goals and objectives more than to defend Lebanon against Israel. In all cases, the one who is supposed to confront Israel, but on the condition that you leave room for him, is the Lebanese state. This state, with its institutions that were elected by the majority of the Lebanese, has the responsibility to address the Israeli issue, but it will not be able to do anything because of your obstruction of its path, your obstruction of its role, and your abort of efforts to recover the lands. What actually helps the Israeli project is your military and security presence outside the national consensus and state logic, and outside the Arab and international will. Sheikh Naeem considered that “any research into the weapons file will not be possible before the land is liberated and the people and prisoners return.” The answer is that the opposite is true: It will not be possible, as all current political realities indicate, to liberate the land and return the people before the military and security wings of Hezbollah are dismantled and an effective state is established. This continuous link between weapons and Israel for 36 years has cost Lebanon and the Lebanese people high prices in terms of people and quarantine, and is no longer allowed. Let us be objective at a minimum. Lebanon alone will not be able to expel Israel, nor will it be able to rebuild. He needs his friends, led by Saudi Arabia, the Gulf and European countries, and the United States of America. These countries are not ready to help Lebanon before it becomes an actual state and the strategic decision returns to within the state. In response to Sheikh Naeem’s question: “Where is the government regarding the deteriorating economic situation, the high cost of living, and the absence of any improvement in services?” Where is the electricity and where is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? The reason behind all of this, Sheikh Naeem, is you, as a result of your confiscation of the state’s decision-making in its various institutions over a period of two decades, and the matter ended in the financial gap and the economic, financial and living deterioration that we are still suffering from until this moment. Electricity was in your custody and then passed to your allies for two decades, and what we are experiencing today is due to your practices and the practices of your allies, but the situation will not remain as it is while waiting for you to clean up what you left behind, which requires some time, and this is what the current minister is doing, as he devotes himself to cleaning up your heavy legacy of mismanagement, corruption, and neglecting the interests of the people. As for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we refer you to the testimony of the overwhelming majority of the Lebanese and their acknowledgment that this is the first time that they feel the presence of a foreign ministry in Lebanon speaking in the name of the majority of the Lebanese and in the name of Lebanese legitimacy in implementation of the decisions of the Council of Ministers, the Constitution and Lebanese priorities. The country witnessed some improvement with the election of President Joseph Aoun and the formation of President Nawaf Salam's government, but you returned to bring ruin through the war to support Tehran at the expense of Lebanon and the Lebanese, so you returned Lebanon to square one of financial and living deterioration. In addition, Lebanon is in dire need of aid to address the conditions and crises that you have caused, and this money will only come through friends of Lebanon who will not pay a single penny because of you. As for Sheikh Naim’s statement that “people in Lebanon understand each other,” this is precisely what happened in the last two years, as people reached an understanding with each other through everything that happened in the Parliament, from electing a president of the republic, appointing a prime minister, and forming a government that won the confidence of the Parliament for the third time about two weeks ago. This government, which gained confidence, took clear decisions on August 5 and 7 to disarm Hezbollah, and on March 2 to dissolve the party’s military and security organization, and you are the only ones acting against the will of the people. Whoever knows history knows well, Sheikh Naeem, that everyone who tried to remove the meaning of Lebanon ceased to exist. Your saying that “Lebanon will disappear without resistance” is true if it is resistance for the sake of Lebanon, as our resistance has been going on for centuries, and not resistance for the sake of Iran and at the expense of the meaning of Lebanon.