Project Watan Calls for Sovereign Determination and Environmental Rescue

Project Watan’s Executive Board held its weekly meeting, chaired by MP Neemat Frem and attended by all members. Following discussion and deliberation, the following statement was issued:

• The Executive Board discussed U.S. envoy Tom Barrack’s recent visit to Lebanon, which he summed up with a striking remark from Bkerke: “The situation is complex.” This statement aptly captured the gravity and intricacies of the weapons issue, as well as the need for both patience and hope.

In this context, Project Watan affirms that the arms issue is no longer a matter of internal political or popular demand; it now touches the very essence of the Lebanese entity and strikes at the foundations of the state itself. The movement therefore warns against the dangers of stalling on this existential file and calls for a return to the Taif Agreement – both in letter and in spirit – and for its full implementation. Only then can all weapons be brought under the exclusive authority of the state, reaffirming national security as an urgent and non-negotiable priority that can no longer endure further delay – beyond the scope of a defensive strategy.

Without decisive action, Lebanon risks being swept into the eye of a geopolitical storm that is reshaping the region’s geography – a perilous path that would exact a heavy toll on the Lebanese people, far beyond their narrow sectarian or self-interested calculations, whether declared or concealed, and would ultimately threaten their collective national existence.

• Project Watan believes that these transformations are not mere speculative forecasts, but a concrete trajectory taking shape on the ground – one that certain actors are attempting to impose as a new reality, whether in Syria or historic Palestine, to name but a few, especially in light of the Israeli Knesset’s recent approval of a draft law to impose sovereignty over the West Bank and the Jordan Valley.

In view of these developments, Project Watan calls on all Lebanese – across the political and cultural spectrum – to move beyond awareness and vigilance toward a unified national initiative that safeguards the Lebanese entity above all else and sets the country on track toward genuine state-building. Once that foundation is laid, discussions on reforming and modernizing the political system can follow – serving Lebanon’s unity, national interest, regional role, and the well-being of all its communities.

• Project Watan warns that threats to citizens’ security – on every level – have now crossed red lines.

The Board paid particular attention to the ongoing failure to resolve the waste management crisis, which has escalated into an environmental and public health disaster of unprecedented scale. The surge in infectious diseases and viruses, exacerbated by extreme summer temperatures, is placing an increasingly heavy medical burden on both citizens and the state.

In light of this reality, Project Watan sees it as its duty to sound the alarm and calls for the immediate declaration of a health and environmental state of emergency, in order to confront the imminent threat and prevent the crisis from spiraling further – via an urgent plan for containment and rescue.