57 years of occupations and wars… those ones are responsible?

Annahar, December 23, 2025

43 years between direct Lebanese-Israeli negotiations from 1982 to 2025, culminating in the maritime border demarcation agreement between the two countries, brokered by the United States (Hochstein/Biden) and Iran (Ali Khamenei/Hassan Nasrallah).

After his domination of Lebanon, Hafez al-Assad (the infamous) halted direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel in 1982 and completed the destruction of democracy, the economy, and security in Lebanon. The period from 1982 to 2000 was marked by the Israeli invasion and subsequent occupation of the south, the continuation of the regional war in Lebanon with the large Syrian occupation, and, in cooperation with Iran, Assad helped “Hezbollah” rise as a state within the Lebanese Republic.

Following Hafez’s death, his ousted son, Bashar al-Assad, assumed power over Lebanon. The period from 2000 to 2010 was marked by significant political upheavals and conflicts, including the end of the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and the ensuing Cedar Revolution, and the targeting of political, journalistic, and leadership figures (20 martyrs executed by Bashar al-Assad and his allies in Lebanon). UN Security Council Resolution 1559 was passed, forcing the Syrian army under Assad to withdraw voluntarily from Lebanon (in 2005). The period also witnessed the devastating war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006, ongoing internal political conflicts, and the rise of the Free Patriotic Movement and its alliance with the "Axis of Resistance." In 2008, the most prominent action carried out by “Hezbollah” was the events of May 7, which were internal clashes in Beirut and Mount Lebanon against the March 14 forces after government decisions that “Hezbollah” considered a threat to its private communications network. It also conducted direct negotiations and a prisoner exchange with Israel in July 2008.

Between 2010 and 2025, Lebanon faced a succession of crises: a deep economic collapse, the devastating Beirut port explosion in 2020, the repercussions of the Syrian war, mass antigovernment protests (2019), and a major escalation in the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel beginning in 2023, leading to a second devastating war with Israel's renewed occupation of five points in southern Lebanon along the Lebanese-Israeli border. A fragile ceasefire was in place by late 2024, a political stalemate was broken by the formation of a new leadership in 2025, and immense humanitarian suffering ensued, particularly in the south, as a result of Israeli military operations.

From 1975 to 2025, who is responsible for the destruction of Lebanon and its people, for the emigration, the economic collapse, the security breakdown, and the drug trafficking? These are the enemies of Lebanon and those responsible for its ruin:

1. Gamal Abdel Nasser: At the start of Yasser Arafat's war on Lebanon, there was a deafening Arab silence and Egyptian cooperation through what is known as the "Cairo Agreement." This agreement effectively surrendered Lebanese sovereignty to armed Palestinians in 1969, during the presidency of Gamal Abdel Nasser, who had previously intervened in Lebanese affairs to fight President Camille Chamoun in 1958 and to halt the Baghdad Pact. He had also ordered the assassination of journalists Nassib Metni, a socialist from Damour, and Fouad Haddad from the Kataeb Party's newspaper, "AlAmal." Thus, he did not conquer Lebanon in 1958, but rather its sovereignty in 1969 through his infamous agreement in his country's capital, Cairo, known as the "Cairo Agreement."
   
   
2. Yasser Arafat, along with the PLO, which liberated not an inch of Palestine but rather destroyed Lebanon with their Lebanese allies, destroyed Lebanon from 1975 until his expulsion in 1982.
   
   
3. Hafez al-Assad, with his complexes regarding everything beautiful in Lebanon, was envious and never saw the true Lebanon. He conspired with false allies in Lebanon from 1982 until his death in 2000.
   
   
4. Deposed Bashar al-Assad, from 2000 to 2005, is responsible for the blood of the martyrs of the "Cedar Revolution," the economic collapse in Lebanon, and the continued dismantling of Lebanese democracy. His daily obsession is how to destroy Lebanon. He is an envious, tyrannical, and foolish man who pretends to understand. He was deposed on December 8, 2024.
   
   
5. Hassan Nasrallah, who first destroyed his own sect through two wars that cost Lebanon blood, displacement, and a deadly economic collapse, then demolished the infrastructure in the villages of the South. Israel pursued him and more than 30 leaders of his Iranian-backed party, and continues to do so.
   
   
6. Ali Khamenei, who intervened in Lebanon as the two Assads, the deceased and the deposed, did, funding, arming, and encouraging the Shia sect to fight Israel. Everyone knows the results, starting in Lebanon, passing through Syria, reaching Yemen, and now Iraq.

From Gamal Abdel Nasser and Yasser Arafat to the criminals Hafez and Bashar al-Assad and Hassan Nasrallah, with their failed resistance, Israel's power has devastated Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. Words uttered by these leaders, such as "The road to Jerusalem passes through Jounieh" and "If I only knew," not to mention the treachery and espionage for Israel within the ranks of "Hezbollah."

This is a 57-year-old narrative dating back to the "Cairo Agreement." So what does "Axis sof resistance" want? More war, more collapse, more sinking into the unknown? We will not allow it. The international community must bring them to justice, dead or alive. They have not only destroyed a nation but an entire people. Accountability is essential, as is the execution of the death penalty and the stripping of all their presidential titles. It is also necessary to prosecute every Lebanese who has collaborated with Assad's Syria and Iran on charges of treason, including presidents, ministers, members of parliament, and military and security officials, with the penalty of death.

We in the diaspora, and 95 percent of the Lebanese people, want a narrative of life and peace. The only solution is to support the Lebanese army, disarm all illegal weapons held by foreign terrorist organizations, prosecute traitors, support the mechanism committee, and sign a comprehensive and lasting peace with Israel.

Walid Maalouf
Alternate US Representative to the United Nations 2003
Director of Public Diplomacy at USAID 2004-2009