Kataeb MP Elias Hankach called for the Lebanese State to reclaim full control over decisions of war and peace, warning that the country cannot continue to depend on the outcome of foreign elections and regional developments while its sovereignty and economic recovery remain at risk.

In a statement posted on X, Hankach criticized what he described as Lebanon’s continued state of uncertainty, saying the country was repeatedly left waiting for developments in Israel, the United States and Iran to determine its future.

“How long is Lebanon going to remain stuck waiting for others to decide its fate?” Hankach wrote. “One day, we’re waiting for the Israeli elections, the next for the American elections, and then for what happens in Iran. It’s as if our country’s future is in someone else’s hands.”

Hankach said the problem went beyond the war itself, pointing to the decisions that led Lebanon into a conflict the Lebanese people had not chosen and left matters of war and peace outside the authority of the state.

“The problem isn’t just the war. It’s the decision to drag Lebanon into a conflict the Lebanese people never chose, and to keep decisions of war and peace outside the state’s control,” he said. “And who is making those decisions? An armed militia that takes its orders from Iran.”

The lawmaker accused Hezbollah of dragging Lebanon into a confrontation unrelated to its national interests, exposing the country to human and material losses, widespread destruction and enormous economic costs at a time when it urgently needed stability and a chance to rebuild its economy.

Had Lebanon stayed out of the two wars, Hankach argued, the country could have been in a much stronger position politically, economically and in terms of security.

He warned that the country remained trapped in a cycle of waiting for decisions made elsewhere, as if it had neither the ability to shape its own future nor the responsibility to do so.

“No country can build a functioning state if it doesn’t control decisions of war and peace,” he said. “And no economy can recover if every achievement can be wiped out by another military adventure.”

Hankach said Lebanon needed to move beyond managing the consequences of the conflict and address the underlying problems that leave it vulnerable to repeated crises.

He outlined six priorities, starting with establishing a state monopoly on weapons and ensuring that decisions of war and peace rest exclusively with the Lebanese government, without competing centers of sovereignty or decision-making.

He also called for an end to the policy of involving Lebanon in regional conflicts and preventing the country from being used as an arena for settling other parties’ scores.

Other priorities included restoring stability and protecting the Lebanese people, bringing the country’s borders under the control of legitimate state institutions, holding those responsible for corruption and waste accountable, and rebuilding public confidence in the judiciary and state institutions.

On the economic front, Hankach urged the government to restructure the public sector and launch serious reforms to create jobs and stem the outflow of people leaving the country. He also called for bold economic measures to restore investor confidence and attract capital.

The government, he said, bears particular responsibility for moving beyond crisis management and waiting for agreements reached abroad.

“The government can’t just manage the fallout from the war and wait for foreign powers to reach a deal,” Hankach said. “It needs a clear plan to restore state sovereignty, enforce its decisions, protect the people and rebuild the country.”

Acknowledging the scale of the challenges facing Lebanon and the wider region, Hankach said difficult circumstances could not justify passivity or allow any political actor to evade responsibility.

“Lebanon can’t remain hostage to Hezbollah’s weapons and wars, or to other countries’ elections and political calculations,” he said.

Hankach called for a state capable of making its own decisions, taking the initiative and holding those responsible for wrongdoing to account rather than accepting repeated failures as inevitable.

“We need a state that makes its own decisions instead of having others make them for it, takes action instead of sitting back and waiting, and holds people accountable instead of simply learning to live with mistakes,” he said.

“The future won’t wait. Sovereignty is more than a slogan, reform must be more than a promise, and building a state cannot be something we keep putting off.

“That’s how we break out of the cycle of war and crisis. That’s how we build a country.”