Kataeb Party leader Sami Gemayel said on Monday there could be no further dialogue over Hezbollah’s weapons, calling instead for the implementation of government decisions aimed at placing all arms under State control.

Gemayel made the comments after meeting President Joseph Aoun at the Baabda Palace.

“We told President Aoun that, in our view, the government needs to move forward with implementing its decisions,” Gemayel said. “We trust that he knows what he is doing. Our role is to express our position; the decision is his.”

Gemayel said the Kataeb Party supported Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam because, after 35 years of Syrian tutelage, Lebanon’s state institutions were once again assuming their responsibilities.

“For the first time in 35 years, we have a State, a president and a prime minister,” he said, praising Aoun for remaining calm despite what he described as accusations of treason and political campaigns against him.

Gemayel sharply criticized Hezbollah and its leader, Naim Qassem, who delivered a speech on Sunday in which he defended the group’s weapons and questioned the role of the Lebanese State.

“What we heard yesterday was a disaster. Does he live in a parallel reality from the rest of us?” Gemayel asked, referring to Qassem’s speech.

“Our role is to encourage and support the president while confronting a militia that has taken Lebanon hostage, as well as the Iranian state that has taken Lebanon hostage through this militia,” Gemayel said.

Hezbollah’s actions, he added, had led to the occupation and destruction of southern Lebanon, the displacement of its residents and the systematic destruction of the country’s economy.

Responding to Qassem’s criticism targeting the Lebanese State, Gemayel challenged Hezbollah’s claim to have defended State institutions.

“What State are you talking about, Sheikh Naim?” he said. “The State was under the control of your ally Bashar al-Assad, and before him Hafez al-Assad, for 35 years. We regained control of the State a year ago, and it is now trying to save the country.”

Gemayel pointed out that Lebanon’s official institutions had recently managed to secure an explicit Israeli commitment to withdraw, referring to ongoing negotiations and efforts to end Israeli military presence on Lebanese territory.

“As for the State you criticize, you were the ones ruling it,” he said. “We have every right to question you, rather than have you question us.”

On Hezbollah’s claim that its armed struggle had protected Lebanon, Gemayel rejected the argument.

“Are you seriously saying that the resistance protected Lebanon?” he said. “There was not a single Israeli soldier here before the two wars you waged. You were the ones who brought Israeli occupation back into Lebanon.”

“An attacker is not a resistance fighter,” Gemayel added. “What you did was not for Lebanon. It was for [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar and [Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei.”

Gemayel said Aoun deserved support for seeking to find solutions and reduce tensions while limiting the harm to Lebanon.

But he also warned those who repeatedly accuse opponents of treason and keep on invoking the possibility of civil war.

“After all the damage you have done to this country and after putting Iran’s interests ahead of Lebanon’s, you should have remained silent,” he said.

Gemayel said Israel must withdraw from all Lebanese territory and that the Lebanese State and its people should determine how the country responds to threats, not any armed group.

“Israel must withdraw from every inch of Lebanese territory, all Lebanese must be treated equally, and Lebanon must resist through its State and its people,” he said.

“Sheikh Naim does not get to decide for us when we confront Israel and when we do not. He does not get to define what is resistance and what is surrender.”

Gemayel accused Qassem of seeking to preserve Hezbollah’s weapons as leverage for Iran.

“His problem is that he wants to keep that card in Iran’s hands,” Gemayel said. “No one can lecture the Lebanese on liberation. We will go further than anyone else in defending Lebanon’s independence, sovereignty and every one of its 10,452 square kilometers.”

Gemayel said the fundamental difference between the Kataeb Party and Hezbollah was their approach to the issue of Israeli withdrawal and Lebanon’s future.

“Hezbollah, by refusing to hand over its weapons, wants to keep the Lebanese card in its hands so it can use it in negotiations, play with Lebanese lives and use Lebanese territory for empty displays of bravado.”

Gemayel ruled out further dialogue over Hezbollah’s arsenal, saying political dialogue should solely focus on how Lebanon is governed.

“There will be no dialogue over non-state weapons,” he said. “There should be dialogue about how to run the country, but not about weapons whose fate has already been settled in the president’s inaugural speech and in Cabinet decisions.”

“The government’s decisions to place all weapons under State control must be implemented. After that, we can have an in-depth dialogue about Lebanon’s future.”