Bassil warns Hezbollah against 'crime' of implicating Lebanon in 'new destruction'

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Tuesday strongly criticized Hezbollah in the wake of Sheikh Naim Qassem’s latest remarks about supporting Iran.

“The basis of the Memorandum of Understanding (between the FPM and Hezbollah) was to Lebanonize Hezbollah’s choices and weapons through partnership, state building and defending Lebanon,” Bassil said in a post on the X platform.

“The MoU collapsed with the collapse of these pillars,” Bassil added.

“The unity of arenas and the war of assistance destroyed Hezbollah and Lebanon and ended the deterrent purpose of the weapons. It’s saddening to witness today a repetition of the crime of implicating Lebanon in new destruction instead of neutralizing and protecting it,” the FPM chief went on to say.

Qassem said on Monday that any attack on the group's backer Tehran would also be an attack on Hezbollah, warning that any new war on Iran would ignite the region.

"We will choose at that time how to act... but we are not neutral," he said, adding that "on how we act, these are details that the battle determines, and we will decide according to the interests at stake."

Iran is Hezbollah's main supporter, providing it with funding and weapons since its creation in the 1980s.