BEIRUT — Lebanese Member of Parliament and prime ministerial candidate Fouad Makhzoumi delivered a sharp public challenge to Prime Minister Nawaf Salam this week, declaring that the Lebanese people “are not protected by slogans, but by decisions.” His statement came in direct response to a series of incidents in which Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were accused of using Lebanese civilians as human shields — in Aisha Bakkar, Raouche, Baabda, Saida, Jnah, and most recently Ain Saadeh. “How much more blood will it take before action is taken?” Makhzoumi demanded.

Makhzoumi, a Beirut Sunni MP representing the second district and founder of the National Dialogue Party, has become one of the most consistent voices in Lebanon’s parliament calling for a fundamental overhaul of the country’s security architecture. His latest intervention escalates that push into a direct, three-point operational demand addressed to the head of government — framing inaction no longer as political failure, but as complicity.

The third demand is not without precedent in official discussions. Following incidents in Aisha Bakkar and Raouche, a proposal to survey vacant apartments and regulate rentals in Beirut was in fact put forward during an official meeting at the Beirut Emergency Operations Room. The proposal was practical in scope and protective in intent — yet it was immediately attacked by Hezbollah-affiliated media outlets and what Makhzoumi calls the “deep state,” which labeled it “spying.” To date, no concrete measures have been implemented.

Makhzoumi’s immediate security demands sit within a far larger and more ambitious political vision. At the Washington Institute in November 2025, he argued that peace with Israel represents Lebanon’s “escape from destruction and economic hardship” — framing normalization not as capitulation, but as the only route to reconstruction, diaspora return, and investment. On X in March 2026, he reiterated: “There can be no real peace, no real sovereignty, and no real state under such conditions. The path forward is clear and unequivocal: One state, one army, one authority over arms.”

He has called for the repeal of Lebanon’s 1955 Boycott Law — which criminalizes contact with Israel and is enshrined in Articles 273–275 of the Criminal Code — describing it as an “outdated relic” that prevents Lebanon from “thinking clearly” and serves as a pretext for non-state armed actors rather than genuine national protection. In recent weeks, he has gone further: calling for Hezbollah to be banned as a single unified entity — explicitly rejecting the political/military distinction — and for its ministers to be dismissed from the cabinet for defying government decisions.

These positions have drawn fierce backlash from pro-Hezbollah circles, who have labeled him an agent of external agendas. They have also drawn rare, explicit praise from those who see him as filling a vacuum of honest leadership. Among the most striking endorsements came from commentator Bechara Gerges, writing on X:

Gerges is not alone. Lebanese commentator Ziad Elkhalil wrote that “every patriotic Lebanese who has the genuine interest of Lebanon at heart will endorse Mr. Makhzoumi’s brave stand on peace with Israel” — adding that any Lebanese “outside the subservience of Iran” would echo his sentiment and calling for an end to wars. Alaa Arakji observed that Makhzoumi’s willingness to call for the full removal of Hezbollah — not merely its military wing — “reflects a growing shift” in public sentiment among exhausted Lebanese citizens.

Within the parliamentary opposition, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has aligned with Makhzoumi’s bloc on the foundational demand for Hezbollah disarmament, while National Dialogue Party affiliate Dr. Roger Choueiri called the peace and boycott-law positions “non-negotiable” for Lebanon’s survival. Makhzoumi’s political advisor Carole Zouein summarized the internal framing simply: “That is called political courage.”

As Lebanon navigates a fragile post-ceasefire period in early 2026, Makhzoumi’s challenge to Prime Minister Salam carries both urgency and weight: either the Lebanese state acts on its own authority, or it continues to cede the country’s security — and sovereignty — to forces that answer to Tehran, not Beirut. The clock, as he frames it, is not merely political. It is measured in lives.