Lebanese politician says Shiite community is victim of Hezbollah, calls for ‘intifada’ - report

Jerusalem Post/Middle EastKataeb leader Sami Gemayel is a supporter of the US-backed peace framework between Israel and Lebanon but acknowledges there are wider geopolitical elements at play. Follow us on GoogleA woman and a child hold Hezbollah flags, including one bearing a portrait of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, during a protest in Riyad al-Solh Square in central Beirut, Lebanon, on August 7, 2026.(photo credit: Nael Chahine / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)ByDANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARDAUGUST 8, 2026 15:43Updated: AUGUST 8, 2026 16:11Lebanon’s Shiite population should carry out an “intifada” against Hezbollah, Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel told a delegation from Lebanese Press Editors’ Syndicate, according to Lebanese media reports.Gemayel told the delegation that there was no solution to the conflict that Lebanon could alone solve. His comments were made only days before it was reported that mutually agreed-upon third nations would monitor and verify the disarmament of Hezbollah.Though a supporter of the US-backed peace framework for Beirut and Jerusalem, he acknowledged that the situation was also dependent on wider regional developments, namely Iran.Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and holds loyalty to the ayatollah as a central pillar of its ideology under Wilayat al-Faqih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist), will continue to act on Tehran’s instructions, he said, making Lebanon’s situation dependent on wider regional developments.Gemayel made clear that he viewed the Shiite community as victims of Hezbollah and said he had approached Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to discuss how to engage with the community about creating a separation between it and Hezbollah, a discussion that Berri was quick to shut down.Head of the Lebanese Phalanges (Kataeb) Party Sami Gemayel poses during a studio photoshoot at the party's headquarters in the capital Beirut on March 2, 2022. (credit: JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images)Shiite population 'held hostage' by HezbollahBerri, though the leader of the Amal Movement, is closely allied with Hezbollah, and a number of researchers, including Lebanese researcher Hanin Ghaddar, have written extensively about how Hezbollah has bolstered his political position.L’Orient Today reported that Gemayel suggested the Shiite population was being held hostage to Hezbollah and there should, therefore, be an “intifada” (uprising) against the group.Follow us on Google