Project Watan Warns Against Military Escalation, Condemns Attacks on State Figures

Project Watan’s Executive Board held its weekly meeting, chaired by MP Neemat Frem and attended by all members. After deliberations and discussions, the Board issued the following statement:

• The Executive Board expressed deep concern over violent Israeli military escalation targeting sites that had not previously been reported to the mechanism committee for inspection by the Lebanese Army, and spanning a wide geographic area linked to the second phase of the process of confining weapons. This escalation signals an increase in both field-level and political pressure.

The Board reviewed the risks associated with freezing the activities of the mechanism and the implications this may have for the possibility of concluding negotiations in their current format, pending the identification of an alternative path.

This escalation comes at a time when the Lebanese Army is recording documented achievements in implementing the cessation of hostilities agreement, extending the authority of the state, and preventing the situation from sliding into open confrontation – despite limited resources, yet with determination and sacrifice. These efforts merit national commendation, unified support, and strengthening of the Army’s role.

• The Executive Board also addressed the dangers of reactivating street and media agitation, as well as protest movements directed against the positions of the President and the government in ways that exceed acceptable boundaries.

Project Watan considers that attacking state symbols using objectionable language at this delicate and decisive moment amounts to a stab in the back, particularly as international political and military pressure on Lebanon intensifies, posing a threat to the entity as a whole.  Such practices are rejected today, as they were yesterday, and at all times.

• The Executive Board commended the ongoing efforts to tighten control over land, air, and sea borders, halt smuggling operations, combat corruption, and expose it through the judiciary.

The importance of this path lies at the heart of the national recovery process, as effective border control constitutes a fundamental pillar in restoring confidence in Lebanese exports to regional markets, revitalizing the national economy, increasing state revenues, and advancing along the natural path toward a state governed by the rule of law and strong institutions.