Hezbollah MP urges state to liberate land, stop Israel violations

Hezbollah would support a strong, just and sovereign state, Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said Wednesday, calling on the state to start taking its war and peace decisions.

"What is the state waiting for?" Fadlallah asked. "The enemy is known, our land is occupied, and the attacks from the south to the east are ongoing." He added that Hezbollah does not want war but wants the state to liberate the land and stop the Israeli violations, as it has vowed to do, "whether through diplomacy or any other means."

"We want the state to be strong and capable," he said. "This will lift the burden off our shoulders."

Newly elected President Joseph Aoun and PM Nawaf Salam have both said that the state should be the sole bearer of arms and should be responsible of "liberating all Lebanese territory".

During an Arab Summit in Cairo Tuesday, Aoun said "there can be no peace without the liberation of the last inch of our occupied land."

"We want the state to have the decision of war and peace," Fadlallah said, but added that it must shoulder its responsibilities and prove to the Lebanese people and to the world that it is "capable."