What has Bassil said on Hezbollah, peace with Israel?

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Monday denied remarks attributed to him about Hezbollah and the possibility of peace between Lebanon and Israel.

“A person whom we do not know made a false and suspicious statement on the MTV channel, claiming that former foreign minister FPM chief Jebran Bassil had once told Lebanese expats in Washington, ‘Rid us of Hezbollah and we’ll be ready for peace with Israel,’” Bassil’s press office said.

“The FPM chief’s press office denies what this suspicious and unknown person said about Hezbollah and (ex-)Minister Bassil does not remember at all any knowledge of this person and whether he had participated in any expat conferences or meetings,” the press office added.

As for peace with Israel, the office reminded that Bassil “has been publicly reiterating for years that he supports just peace that puts an end to aggression and returns rights, including occupied Lebanese territory, and that also prevents the naturalization of Palestinians in Lebanon.”