Bassil proposes international force, demands Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon
Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader MP Gebran Bassil said he had submitted his party’s proposal for an international force to President Joseph Aoun during a meeting at Baabda Palace, where he headed an FPM delegation.
Bassil called for consultations with the countries concerned to move Lebanon beyond its current state of uncertainty.
He proposed that the force comprise the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to ensure a balanced approach toward Lebanon and Israel, arguing that such an arrangement would deprive Israel of its stated justification for protecting its territory.
Bassil stressed that safeguarding Lebanese sovereignty required Israel’s withdrawal and the Lebanese state’s exclusive control over weapons, while maintaining that the adoption of a national security strategy remained a domestic matter.
He also called for shielding Lebanon from regional rivalries and conflicts through international guarantees, potentially accompanied by defense agreements with countries capable of protecting it.
Bassil advocated a truce that would establish lasting calm and eventually pave the way for a comprehensive and just peace once the necessary conditions were met.
He rejected any attempt to use Israeli occupation as a means of imposing normalization on Lebanon.
