MPs discuss Hezbollah arms, Israeli violations, and US intervention in plenary session

Lawmakers convened Wednesday for the second day in Parliament to debate the government's policies. During the session, MPs mainly discussed Hezbollah's arms and Israeli violations and renewed confidence in the Lebanese government.

The no-confidence vote was proposed by Free Patriotic chief Jebran Bassil. Sixty-nine MPs gave a vote of confidence to the government, nine FPM MPs voted against it, and four MPs abstained.

Many MPs on Tuesday and Wednesday called for Hezbollah's disarmament while Hezbollah MP Ibrahim al-Moussawi said "We all know that the army is not allowed to have defensive weapons to protect the country against the enemy."

- Amal MP says gov. not doing enough to protect Lebanese -

Amal MP Ali Hassan Khalil and Hezbollah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan criticized the government for not doing enough to prevent the Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement reached in late November.

"We haven't felt that the government is working responsibly and seriously to prevent the collapse of the ceasefire agreement," Khalil said, adding that "the open discussion about arms must continue, but responsibly" and that the government must also discuss the reconstruction of war-hit regions.

Khalil said in Hezbollah's defense that "the resistance was never an independent project but rather a reaction that emerged when the national defense system failed to protect sovereignty, especially in the south."

- Hezbollah disarmament -

Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan criticized Tuesday the government's lack of progress in restoring the state's authority and disarming Hezbollah, while Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Jebran Bassil said he supports Hezbollah's disarmament but not by force.

MP Fouad Makhzoumi called for Hezbollah's disarmament and proposed to discuss it in a cabinet session and independent MP Neemat Frem said Hezbollah's arms must not be destroyed or given to Israel, but handed over to the Lebanese army.

- US intervention -

Hajj Hassan for his part accused the U.S. of intervening in Lebanese affairs. He said that some Lebanese parties are serving the American and Israeli narratives and failing to see the Israeli threats.

MP Oussama Saad also said the American mediators are biased to Israel and pressuring Lebanon. "We will not argue about the handover of weapons to the state," but "the Israeli occupation cannot be ignored."

On Tuesday, MP Jamil al-Sayyed criticized U.S. envoys Amos Hochstein, Morgan Ortagus, and Tom Barrack, who he said "threatened Lebanon with civil war". "It's as if we've become an experimental field for these envoys."

- No foreign dictations -

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam denied any foreign dictations and vowed to continue working on extending the state’s authority north and south of the Litani river and to pressure Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territories and stop its aggressions.