Kataeb Party leader Samy Gemayel has called on the Lebanese State to issue a firm warning to Hezbollah that any attempt to drag the country into a new war would be met with action by the Lebanese army, saying the country cannot afford to wait for assurances from the group as it faces what he described as an existential threat.

Speaking to a small group of journalists, Gemayel said the government must abandon its wait-and-see approach, move beyond political warnings and back its position with clear and concrete enforcement measures to ensure that Lebanon is not once again exposed to military decisions made outside its legitimate institutions.

He, therefore, called for a warning “with teeth,” accompanied by operational instructions for the army to deploy across Lebanon and arrest any individual or group seeking to involve the country in another military confrontation.

Such measures, he said, should be grounded in Cabinet decisions, the president's inaugural address and the government's policy statement. The State must take preventive action rather than wait for Hezbollah to declare whether it intends to join a future conflict, he argued.

Gemayel urged President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to take immediate precautionary steps to prevent war and begin intensive preparations for the worst-case scenario, including plans to manage potential displacement if hostilities resume.

He warned that the State could not absolve itself of responsibility if it failed to prepare for the possibility of renewed fighting. Authorities should also be ready to respond to any major political settlement that regional and international developments might bring about, he added.

Gemayel argued that Lebanon was approaching a critical juncture, with the region heading either toward a major military confrontation or a sweeping settlement that could reshape its political and security landscape. He expressed concern that the prospect of war was gaining ground and that the country had no effective guarantees against being drawn into another conflict.

Gemayel says direct appeals to Hezbollah are futile

In the event of military escalation, Gemayel said there was little point in addressing Hezbollah directly because the group's decisions were not made in Lebanon. He described it as an Iranian instrument and argued that engaging its leadership would serve no purpose.

Instead, he called on the Shiite public, opposition figures and the Amal Movement to speak out against Hezbollah and challenge the reality it was imposing on the country. These groups, he said, do not take orders from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and should make their positions clear before the consequences of Hezbollah's actions spread further.

Gemayel said the damage inflicted on Shiite communities by the group's military adventures should prompt a stronger response, warning that destruction could extend to other predominantly Shiite areas. He called for the appeals issued by residents and figures in Jabal Amel and southern Lebanon, following earlier appeals from Tyre and Nabatiyeh, to be brought together under a common framework.

Such an initiative, he said, could unite Shiite political forces and public figures opposed to Hezbollah's actions and create a broader national platform to reject another war. Expressions of concern were no longer enough, he added, as the risks to residents, their communities and their future continued to grow.

No dialogue on weapons before surrender

On Hezbollah's weapons, Gemayel ruled out any dialogue before the group surrenders its arsenal, saying the issue was no longer open to discussion under any framework, including a proposed national defense strategy.

The government had already taken a decision to place all weapons under State control, he said, and the priority now was to implement it. Only after Hezbollah surrenders its weapons should Lebanese parties sit down together for dialogue, Gemayel stressed.

The Kataeb chief described relations between the Party and the Lebanese Forces as good, saying communication, meetings and coordination between the two sides were continuing as they followed political developments and addressed the challenges facing the country.