Politicians spar over Hezbollah Shebaa attack

BEIRUT: Hezbollah’s military operation against an Israeli patrol in the occupied Shebaa Farms earlier this week sparked further controversy Thursday, with March 14 officials saying that the state should have the exclusive decision of war and peace.

Responding to comments by Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil in which he backed the operation, Future Movement MP Ahmad Fatfat said it was the obligation of the state only to defend Lebanese territories.

“The foreign minister made dangerous remarks to Al-Akhbar newspaper, saying that the Hezbollah operation in the Shebaa Farms is in line with the policy statement, as if the entire government supports this operation,” Fatfat told a news conference in Parliament.

“I ask the prime minister and the government that will meet today to seriously and carefully address the issue: Does the violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 serve Lebanon’s interest and through what means does Lebanon respond to Israeli aggressions?” Fatfat said.

In remarks to Al-Akhbar published Thursday, Bassil said that Hezbollah’s attack on the Israeli patrol Tuesday, which wounded two soldiers, was justified under the government’s policy statement. Bassil said the attack came in response to an Israeli violation in which a Lebanese soldier was wounded days earlier by Israeli fire from the same area where Hezbollah planted the bomb in the Shebaa Farms.

The brigade responsible for setting off the explosive device was named after 25-year-old Ali Hasan Haidar, a Hezbollah explosives expert who was killed while trying to dismantle four Israeli devices planted on Hezbollah’s telecommunications network in Adloun, south Lebanon, last month.

But Fatfat said it was not the duty of any political party in Lebanon to respond to Israeli violations.

“It is not the responsibility of any political group to counter these aggressions. No political party has the right to determine the zero hour [to respond to Israel’s attacks] or to have the decision of war and peace with any enemy,” Fatfat said. “This is the responsibility of the government and the Army.”

Commenting on Hezbollah’s operation, Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi said: “Lebanon cannot endure adventures and Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria was a historical mistake.” He made his remarks on his way to join a Cabinet session at the Grand Serail.

“Shebaa is occupied and it is our right to resist occupation,” hit back Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mohammad Fneish, also a Hezbollah official.

“Does the country endure deaths and wounded people and the targeting of the Army?” Fneish said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea slammed Hezbollah over Tuesday’s bomb attack, calling it “national treason.”

“The Shebaa bombing amounts to full-fledged national treason. Hezbollah has no right to juggle with the fate of the Lebanese people,” Geagea said, fearing that such operations could prompt Israel to launch a new war on Lebanon.

“What is the point of igniting a new front when the Army is busy at the border from Akkar to Arsal,” Geagea asked, adding that “it is not Hezbollah’s job to fight against the enemy, which is the responsibility of the state uniquely.”