Samy Gemayel calls for justice and state sovereignty on Beirut Port explosion anniversary

The Kataeb Party commemorated the fifth anniversary of the Beirut Port explosion by honoring its late Secretary-General Nazar Najarian and all those who were killed in the blast.

Kataeb leader MP Samy Gemayel said the pain remains: “We are still mourning our beloved brothers and comrades, and we are entrusted with carrying forward the path of justice.”

He stressed that such a devastating explosion could not have occurred under a fully functioning state. 

“Our goal is for this tragedy—and the latest war—to mark the end of Lebanese sorrow,” he said.

Gemayel called on President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to recognize the gravity of the current moment: “People expect them to lead Lebanon out of lawlessness, impunity, and militia rule, and toward a state governed by the rule of law, where the judiciary performs its duty and no weapons exist outside state authority.”

Addressing the issue of Hezbollah's arsenal, Gemayel said, “Those rejecting the handover of weapons today are doing so under the pretext of protection, but the real protection lies in building the state.”

He described Tuesday’s upcoming cabinet session as “historic,” urging the government to make a decisive move toward restricting weapons to the state alone—not to appease external actors, but as a necessary step to building a real state.