Danny Haddad – Mtv
It is not a detail at all that Hezbollah determines the timing of the speech of its Secretary General, Sheikh Naim Qassem, in memory of the “martyr leaders” today, at the same time that a cabinet session will be held in which the Army Commander, General Rudolph Heikal, will participate, who will present his plan for weapons exclusivity north of the Litani.
But the timing of the government session is not exclusively related to Qasim’s speech. It comes after Heikal returned from two visits to Washington and Riyadh, in which he presented the army’s needs, reality, and ability to carry out the tasks required of it in the next stage. Days before the expected monthly meeting of the Mechanics Committee on February 25, and approximately three weeks before the Army Support Conference that will be held in Paris, the period between which is considered essential to determine the direction of the countries participating in it, especially Saudi Arabia, in terms of increasing the value of their contributions or not. Most importantly, hours before a new, and likely decisive, US-Iranian round of negotiations is held in Geneva.
Therefore, the Council of Ministers will face a challenge today, in light of the consensus of more than one source within it that the session will be calm, and will not witness an increase in the ceilings of statements and positions, neither at home nor abroad, based on an agreement on calm between Baabda and Hezbollah on the one hand, and the awareness of all parties, including Hezbollah, that the complete resolution of the arms issue will not take place within the Council of Ministers, but in the Swiss city, where the temperature is approaching zero.
However, apart from the European frost, the fervor of Naim Qassem’s words will not differ from his previous positions, and he will not add anything new, especially in the context of the party’s position of refusing to hand over its weapons in light of the continuing Israeli attacks that claimed four martyrs yesterday in the factory, near the Lebanese-Syrian border, with the implications of this location, especially since the targeted car was heading to Syria.
It should be noted that on the eve of the session, the army issued a statement about carrying out security missions in Taria – Baalbek, where they raided homes and confiscated weapons, and arrested two people at the Durus checkpoint in Baalbek also in possession of ammunition. This is a striking indication of the missions that the army is carrying out within what is known as the “Hezbollah environment,” which is becoming more expanded and more assertive.
Therefore, today’s Cabinet session coincides with the speech of Sheikh Naeem Qassim. Perhaps it is a coincidence that allows the Lebanese to make a temporal, post-national choice between a party that keeps Lebanon in the cycle of instability and unbalanced confrontation with Israel, and a state that has committed to diplomacy as an option to protect the country and its advancement.
The choice is not difficult, except for those who are delusional that weapons will remain, even if they have become a subject of negotiation at the table in Geneva.
The post “The Party” confronts the army… “On the hour” appeared first on 961today Lebanon Today.
