MP Nadim Gemayel said that the events of May 7, which took place 18 years ago, marked a turning point that “unmasked” Hezbollah and exposed what he described as its nature as an Iranian-backed armed group that has used its weapons against Lebanese citizens and overridden State authority.

May 7 refers to the 2008 clashes in Lebanon, when Hezbollah and allied factions took control of parts of Beirut during a domestic political crisis.

Gemayel said that, more than ever, there is a need for what he described as a “Beirut liberated from Hezbollah and its weapons,” and for a Lebanese state that is “free, sovereign, and without any arms outside legal authority.”