Lebanese Kataeb Party leader Samy Gemayel warned that the cost of failing to bring weapons under State control had become far greater than the cost of taking action, urging authorities to confront Hezbollah’s arsenal and prevent further attempts to smuggle explosives into the country.

Speaking at a dinner organized by the party’s Zahle district, where veteran members were honored for 50 years of service, Gemayel cautioned against allowing an armed group to operate outside State authority and pursue an agenda that he said had nothing to do with Lebanon’s national interests.

He also questioned how some lawmakers could endorse the shipment of explosives into Lebanon, arguing that members of parliament were duty-bound to uphold the Constitution and protect people’s lives.

“How can members of parliament come out and endorse the shipment of explosives into Lebanon?” Gemayel asked. “These are people who are supposed to uphold the Constitution and safeguard the lives of our citizens.”

The Kataeb leader said endorsing the entry of hundreds of kilograms of explosives into the country amounted to a direct challenge to the State, the president, the government, the law and the Lebanese people.

“If you think we are afraid of a few explosives or threats, then you still don’t know us,” he said.

Gemayel said he had deliberately traveled to Zahle despite receiving advice and phone calls urging him not to attend because of the security situation.

“Neither explosives nor threats, weapons, ideology or ties to Iran will keep the Kataeb Party or its leader away from Zahle, or silence our national and sovereign voice,” he said.

He argued that allowing weapons to remain outside State control undermined the dignity of all Lebanese citizens who respected the law and the Constitution, regardless of their political affiliation or religious sect.

“Whether someone belongs to Hezbollah or any other sect or political party, every Lebanese who abides by the law and the Constitution deserves equal treatment,” Gemayel said.

Requiring citizens to respect the law while allowing another group to maintain its own arsenal outside state authority violated the principle of equality, weakened public confidence in state institutions and risked pushing more people toward extremism, he added.

Gemayel said the strength of State institutions was directly linked to the level of extremism in society: when the State asserted its authority, extremist tendencies receded, but when it weakened or withdrew, radical ideologies, suicidal thinking and loyalties to foreign powers gained ground.

“If the State does not protect the Lebanese, people will start looking for someone else who can. They will ask themselves, ‘Why shouldn’t I protect myself with my own weapons?’” he said.

“We must understand that extremism breeds extremism. When the state fails to protect people and stop attempts to take control of the country, it pushes the Lebanese back toward fear, rearmament and division,” he added.

Gemayel questioned how Lebanon could be rebuilt if State authority continued to erode and Lebanese turned against one another.

“How can we rebuild Lebanon if the State is absent and the Lebanese are fighting among themselves? Do we want to go back to 1975?” he asked, referring to the year the Lebanese Civil War began.

He said 2026 had placed the country at a historic crossroads, requiring leaders to make decisions with wisdom, patience and careful consideration. But he warned that deliberation could not become an excuse for continued inaction.

“Decisions require wisdom, patience and careful study. But once we have taken the time to consider them, we must act,” he said.

The country could not afford to remain paralyzed, Gemayel added, calling for concrete decisions and measures that would reassure citizens that a functioning state was there to protect them.

He reaffirmed the Kataeb Party’s support for Lebanon’s legitimate institutions and urged officials to recognize that the window for action might not remain open indefinitely.

“International support will not last forever. It could begin to diminish,” he warned, adding that the situation imposed a historic responsibility on the state to act now.

Explosives seizures should mark turning point, Gemayel says

Gemayel praised the Lebanese army and security forces for intercepting two shipments of explosives but cautioned against treating the seizures as proof that the threat had been eliminated.

He described the interceptions as “a good step” but said attempts to bring explosives into Lebanon were continuing and those behind them remained determined to press ahead.

“After all this patience, restraint and careful consideration, what are we waiting for?” he asked.

“What if one of these shipments had reached Beirut’s southern suburbs, the Israelis had found out about it and struck it with a missile, setting off the explosives? The southern suburbs and Beirut could have been devastated, and thousands of people could have been killed,” he said.

Gemayel argued that the incidents should prompt a fundamental reassessment of how the Lebanese state deals with Hezbollah and its weapons.

“We cannot afford to take these two explosives shipments lightly. They must mark a turning point in the way we deal with Hezbollah and its weapons,” he said.