MP Nadim Gemayel represented the Lebanese Kataeb Party at a ceremony commemorating Kataeb members from the town of Qartaba who were killed during Lebanon’s conflict, including Ghaith Khoury, the late head of the Kataeb’s Jbeil district.

Speaking after a Mass held to commemorate the dead, Gemayel paid tribute to the town’s fallen Kataeb members and highlighted the party’s ongoing efforts to honor those who have spent decades serving it.

He noted that the Kataeb was currently honoring members who had spent 50 years in the party, saying the tributes were a recognition of their commitment and sacrifices for Lebanon.

“We are here in Qartaba today to honor our martyrs and bow before their sacrifice,” Gemayel said.

“The martyrs are the ones who honor us through what they gave and the sacrifices they made for Lebanon. It is because of their sacrifice that we are still here — in our country, in Qartaba and throughout Lebanon,” he said.

Gemayel noted that the men and women from Qartaba who were killed had not necessarily died defending their hometown.

“They fell in Beirut, Ashrafieh, Jisr al-Basha, Karantina, Nabaa, Tel al-Zaatar and the markets,” he said, describing their deaths as a reflection of “the strong and deep bond between the city and the mountain.”

He said they had not sacrificed their lives simply to defend their homes and communities, but to ensure that Lebanese could remain in their country as free people and preserve “a sovereign, free and independent homeland.”

“The Kataeb martyrs are martyrs of Lebanon,” Gemayel said, stressing that the party would continue its mission of serving the country.

“We will remain faithful to our martyrs, who gave their lives so that Lebanon could live,” he said.

Tribute to Ghaith Khoury

After the commemoration, Gemayel visited several prominent figures in Qartaba and received a large welcome at the home of the late Ghaith Khoury.

Gemayel laid a laurel wreath at the tombs of Ghaith Khoury and Nora Khoury at Our Lady of Mercy Church at the family home, paying tribute to their memory and sacrifices for Lebanon.

“Ghaith Khoury was not a lawmaker or a minister. He was a leader and a Kataeb activist who devoted everything he had to serving Lebanon and the Jbeil region,” Gemayel said.

“The people of Jbeil still carry that love for him,” he added.

Gemayel said the Kataeb’s political and organizational presence in the region would continue.

“The Kataeb’s journey continues in Qartaba and Jbeil because our approach is to serve Lebanon, not foreign agendas, and to stand against other people’s wars being fought on our soil,” he said.