Lebanese Communist Party on latest Israeli attacks

At a time when the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel was holding, and on the other hand the announcement of an agreement with Iran was approaching, Israel did not abide by the ceasefire; on the contrary, it escalated its attacks. Throughout the rounds of negotiations, it raised the level of its demands and attempted to create a situation aimed at imposing gradual normalization on the national consciousness of the Lebanese people.

First: It is necessary to achieve a broad national political consensus whose foremost priority is confronting the aggression through every political, economic, social, and military means and method of struggle. Furthermore, as long as an occupation exists, the Lebanese people’s right to resistance remains valid. This consensus must be aimed at securing the conditions necessary for a ceasefire and linking them to the withdrawal of the “Israeli” occupation forces to the international borders with occupied Palestine, in accordance with the 1949 Armistice Agreement, without any reservations or conditions. In addition, the return of the people, the reconstruction of the destroyed villages, the release of prisoners, and holding the Zionist enemy accountable for the crimes it has committed against Lebanon and the Lebanese people must also be ensured.

Second: Direct negotiations under fire continued for three rounds in accordance with the “Memorandum of Understanding” announced at the end of the first round, which stated that “Israel” reserved the right to continue its aggression against Lebanon in the manner it determined and to preserve what it considered its right to respond to any “threat” from Lebanon, while not including Lebanon’s right to defend itself. In this situation, the aggression continues, and alongside it, further concessions are being made to the Israeli enemy on political and security levels. Moreover, despite the matters agreed upon in the third round, these concessions have still not resulted in a ceasefire. Neither the American “sponsor” nor the enemy has any intention of giving the “Lebanese negotiator” even the bare minimum in terms of results.

The ground invasion is escalating on several fronts; the bombardment has reached most Lebanese regions, especially the Lebanese in the villages that have been destroyed, those who resisted and were martyred, the displaced, and the people of the south. Medical and media teams have not been spared either. The latest example was the condemnable aggressive act targeting the civil defense centers of the Lebanese People’s Aid Association in the city of Tyre, as well as medical and scout delegations and a hospital center.

While the declared objective in all this is the area south of the Litani River, the hidden objective goes far beyond that. For “Israel,” this is an opportunity that may never be repeated to impose conditions of surrender on Lebanon.

Third: In line with this negotiation approach, which insists on making concessions, an agreement was reached during the third round of negotiations to shift the negotiation process into a military and security-oriented track. These issues will be discussed at the Pentagon on the 29th of this month, May.

This means that the negotiations are taking on a structure coordinated with the aggressive and occupying party under the supervision of the U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon), which supports “Israel’s” war against Lebanon and the region. This is something that cannot be accepted under any circumstances and constitutes a direct threat to Lebanon’s sovereignty, especially in light of rumors circulating about the establishment of a special military brigade whose task would be joint operations and the “cleansing” of operational areas one by one.

The Lebanese Communist Party warns against being dragged into a process in which “Israel” is skilled: implementing projects aimed at annexing our lands with our own hands, liquidating national causes, striking at the resistance, and pitting Lebanese people against one another in order to ignite internal strife. This makes a decisive and unequivocal rejection of this process imperative.

Fourth: On the occasion of Resistance and Liberation Day, it is an unavoidable duty for all Lebanese to respectfully commemorate the martyrs, wounded, prisoners, and all the resistance fighters who wrote an honorable history for Lebanon with their blood during the march toward liberation. It is a debt of loyalty to remember the great achievements realized by our people and our national resistance across the land stretching from Beirut through the Mountain Region, Sidon, Nabatieh, and the South to the border strip. Liberation Day became a day on which Lebanon regained its sovereignty, freedom, and dignity, and one in which we all took national pride.

Today, despite all the suffering, hardships, and major national trials, we must refuse to abandon this history and its meanings, and we must restore the national resistance concept to the value it deserves. This concept has, in one way or another, been subjected to damage that overshadows the gains brought by liberation.

If those who oppose and confront the “American” and “Israeli” projects in the region bear a fundamental responsibility for the dangerous state Lebanon has reached, then a share of that responsibility also falls on Hezbollah and its so-called sovereignty-defending partners entrenched in power.

Those who have not fired a single bullet against the occupation, and whose policies since the Taif Agreement until today have led to a dual catastrophe—economic and social collapse, sectarianizing the resistance, and causing the national cause to be forgotten...

We say this while emphasizing our commitment to the option of national resistance as a banner and path for liberation and change. The brutality of the Zionist project in Iran, Lebanon, Syria, and the region as a whole has been exposed. The crimes recently committed by the enemy against those expressing solidarity with Gaza are the clearest proof that it truly disregards all human standards.

Fifth: The Communist Party reaffirms that there can be no peace with an entity founded upon racist segregation, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. Enough of bargaining over submission and surrender! Those who claim to defend sovereignty should learn from those who came before them and begin breaking away from this destructive path—that is, from the framework of negotiations.

The proposal put forward by those in power for Lebanon would gradually drag the country toward normalization and surrender under the name of “peace.” There is neither a ceasefire, nor a commitment to withdrawal, nor return, nor reconstruction. On the contrary, there is only one point on which there is American-Zionist insistence: stripping the resistance of its weapons, criminalizing the resistance, and sowing discord among the Lebanese people.

The Lebanese Communist Party believes that national unity and national sovereignty stand above all other considerations. Resistance and Liberation Day is not merely a memory for the Lebanese people; it is a symbol of liberation, sovereignty, independence, and the realization of democratic, social, and political change, progress, and prosperity. The Party calls on all Lebanese to stand united in a single front and to form an unbreakable barrier against “Israeli” expansionism and its racist-fascist regime.