The head of the Lebanese Forces Party, Samir Geagea, accompanied by a delegation from the “Strong Republic” bloc, met with the President of the Republic, Joseph Aoun, at Baabda Palace. Geagea stressed, after the meeting, that “Lebanon cannot remain in the unknown, Israel must withdraw from the south and the reconstruction process must begin, but all of this will not be achieved except with the establishment of an actual state.” He stressed that "we cannot do anything without the establishment of an actual state in Lebanon," stressing that this "requires the presence of one army and one weapon." He added: "Everyone must comply with the decisions issued by the Lebanese state. As for the charter, it is embodied in the composition of the House of Representatives and the government, and this concept may not be used inappropriately." He added: "We must expel Israel and rebuild the south, but neither will be achieved unless we establish an actual state." He pointed out that "there is a Lebanese state, represented by the President of the Republic and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, that decides how to deal with crucial issues and what is related to the Israeli presence, and not any other party." He added: "We wished that President Aoun would continue to advance the framework agreement, and none of us is enamored with the agreement, but we have no other solution at the present time other than negotiations." In response to a question about the state taking unilateral decisions, he said: “This is how you must act. It is not the party that decides what the state should do.” Regarding the “Islamabad path,” Geagea said that it “is linked to American and Iranian interests, and has nothing to do with Lebanese interests, but rather is related to Iran’s attempt to maintain its influence in Lebanon, which keeps us in the same spiral.” He concluded by saying: “President Aoun has the intention to push through the framework agreement until the end, and we all realize that this matter is not easy, and we must all line up behind the state instead of directing accusations against it.”