Kataeb Party leader Samy Gemayel accused Hezbollah of dragging Lebanon into destructive wars that have undermined the country’s sovereignty and led to renewed Israeli occupation of parts of southern Lebanon, while arguing that President Joseph Aoun is attempting to reverse the consequences of the group's reckless actions and restore State authority.

Speaking in an interview with Al Jazeera, Gemayel said Hezbollah had miscalculated Israel’s response when it opened military fronts in support of Gaza and later Iran, leaving Lebanon to bear the cost of a conflict it did not choose.

“I fully agree that Israel’s response has been devastating. We saw what happened in Gaza, and we said from the beginning that Lebanon needed to avoid reaching that point,” Gemayel said. “But Hezbollah stirred up a hornet’s nest.”

Gemayel said Hezbollah launched the war without anticipating the scale of Israel’s military response and failed to recognize that it was confronting “an army that has no regard for international law.”

“We are all paying the price for Hezbollah’s reckless gamble,” he said.

The Kataeb chief argued that Hezbollah could not claim victory after causing Israel to reoccupy parts of Lebanese territory that had been fully liberated since 2000.

“When your land is free and your actions end up bringing occupation back to it, that is not a victory,” he said. “Hezbollah’s support front for Gaza led to Israel occupying parts of southern Lebanon after the entire area had been liberated.”

Gemayel drew parallels between the current conflict and the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, noting that Lebanon had not been under Israeli occupation at the time Hezbollah captured Israeli soldiers along the border.

“In 2006, Lebanon was not occupied, yet Hezbollah kidnapped Israeli soldiers, and afterward Hassan Nasrallah himself said, ‘Had I known!’” Gemayel said. “The same thing happened again in 2023. Lebanon was not occupied, but Hezbollah decided to open a war in support of Gaza, and today, in 2026, we are still paying the price for the same destructive approach.”

“Would any country in the world accept an armed faction making unilateral decisions about war and peace without the consent of the people or parliament?” he asked.

Gemayel stressed that resistance against occupation is legitimate when a country is occupied, but argued that Lebanon was not occupied in either 2006 or 2023.

“When an armed group drags Lebanon into a war unrelated to liberating its territory, that becomes an assault on the sovereignty of the state,” he said. “What Hezbollah did was use Lebanese territory for a conflict that had nothing to do with resistance or liberation.”

He said President Aoun is now trying to repair the damage by securing an Israeli withdrawal, enabling displaced residents to return home, and restoring stability in southern Lebanon.

“However, Hezbollah is preventing the State from doing that because it remains committed to maintaining its control, serving Iran’s interests on Lebanese soil, and implementing the Iranian agenda,” he said.

Gemayel argued that the fastest way to end Israeli attacks and secure a withdrawal from Lebanese territory is for the Lebanese State to fully restore its authority and prevent any armed group from operating outside state control.

“We tried Hezbollah’s military adventures and its model of resistance, and we saw the result,” he said. “From our perspective, that strategy has failed.”

Instead, he argued, Lebanon should pursue the same model adopted by Arab states focused on stability and diplomacy.

“Our protection should come through strong relationships with Lebanon’s friends, the same way countries like Qatar and Egypt protect themselves,” he said. “No one attacks them, and they do not attack anyone. We want for Lebanon what every Arab country wants for itself — nothing more and nothing less.”

Gemayel also questioned Lebanon’s continued alignment with Iran, accusing Tehran of transforming Lebanon into “an advanced military base on Israel’s border.”

“There is barely a single area that does not contain weapons depots or missiles,” he said.

He compared Hezbollah’s role in southern Lebanon to that once played by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

“We replaced the PLO, which also used southern Lebanon as a launching ground against Israel back in 1967,” he said. “The Palestinians left, Hezbollah took their place, and Iran started using southern Lebanon for its own regional ambitions and bargaining power.”

Gemayel said Lebanon should no longer serve as a battlefield for regional powers and instead focus on rebuilding its economy and preserving stability.

“Do all of Israel’s neighbors suffer the way Lebanon does?” he asked, pointing to Jordan and Egypt. “Egypt reached an agreement, secured its borders, and upheld its commitments. Jordan did the same. As Lebanese, we want that too. We do not want to remain trapped in endless conflict, whether with Israel in the south or Syria in the north.”

Describing the Lebanese people as victims of regional power struggles, Gemayel said Lebanon’s borders should not be used by outside actors to wage wars.

“Why are others encouraging us to fight while they are not fighting themselves?” he asked.

He also called on Hezbollah members and supporters to place themselves under the authority of the Lebanese State.

“We want everyone to abide by the law and come under the authority of the State so the State can protect them.”

“All we want is for everyone to come under the authority of the State for the State to negotiate, recover and protect Lebanese territory, defend the country through diplomacy, and deploy the Lebanese army across all of Lebanon, just as every other Arab country does,” he added.

Responding to accusations that some Lebanese parties cooperated with Israel during the civil war, Gemayel acknowledged that all sides sought external backing during the conflict, but said that chapter ended with the 1989 Taif Agreement and the conclusion of the civil war in 1990.

“We handed over our weapons and placed our future in the hands of the Lebanese state,” he said. “We no longer maintain relationships with foreign countries outside the framework of the state.”

He argued that Hezbollah remained the only faction that refused to disarm and continued to pledge allegiance abroad.

“Hezbollah chose to keep its weapons and remain loyal to an external power, becoming what Hassan Nasrallah himself described as a soldier in the army of the Supreme Leader,” Gemayel said.