Lebanon has a “historic opportunity” to build a sovereign, independent and stable State, Kataeb Party leader Samy Gemayel said, calling on the government to follow through on decisions it has already taken and warning that the current opening may not last.

Speaking at a ceremony honoring the second group of Kataeb members from the Metn district who have completed 50 years of service to the party, Gemayel said the time for broad principles had passed and that the State now needed to act.

“What Lebanon needs today is the political will to implement its decisions,” Gemayel said. “Now it is time to turn those decisions into action.”

He said Lebanese citizens wanted to live freely and securely in their own country, with their dignity protected, and wanted Lebanon to be governed as a state rather than used as a venue for conflicts driven by outside powers.

“The Lebanese want to live in freedom, with dignity and security, in their own country,” Gemayel said. “They want Lebanon to be a real State, not an arena for other people’s conflicts.”

Gemayel said the challenge facing Lebanon could no longer be reduced to Hezbollah alone, arguing that the group’s political and military decisions were closely tied to Iran and that Lebanon and its people were bearing the consequences.

“The problem is no longer simply Hezbollah,” he said. “It has become clear that its decisions are tied to Iran, while Lebanon and the Lebanese people are paying the price for having their country turned into a theater for Iran’s conflicts.”

He said the Lebanese State now faced a straightforward choice: allow Lebanon to remain under what he described as Iranian tutelage or assert its authority and end that influence.

“Either Lebanon remains hostage to Iranian tutelage, or the State takes responsibility, frees Lebanon from that tutelage and frees Lebanon’s Shiite community from the control imposed on it in the name of Hezbollah and Iran.”

Gemayel said that process would begin with the government demonstrating that it was serious about executing its own decisions.

“That liberation starts when the State takes the initiative and proves that it is serious about implementing the decisions it has made,” he said.

He rejected further attempts to manage the crisis through dialogue or delay.

“We can no longer keep managing this crisis through endless dialogue or simply putting it off,” Gemayel said. “The Lebanese State needs to make one thing clear: the State is in charge, and the Lebanese people are its priority.”

After five decades marked by war and instability, he said, Lebanon needed to shift its focus toward rebuilding its economy and creating opportunities for its younger generation.

“After 50 years of war, the Lebanese have every right to say: enough,” Gemayel said. “It is time to put our full energy into the economy, our young people, investment and rebuilding a country where people can live safely and securely.”

He said Lebanon could no longer afford partial solutions or continue passing unresolved problems from one generation to the next.

“We will not settle for half-measures, and we will not leave our children with the problems we failed to solve,” he said. “Our goal is clear: the Lebanese must be able to live freely, with dignity and security, in their own country. And this war must be Lebanon’s last.”