The Lebanese armed group says the move was dictated by the US and that it ‘fully serves Israel’s interest’.
Hezbollah has branded the Lebanese government’s push to have a state monopoly on arms as a “grave sin” and is dismissing it out of hand “as if it doesn’t exist”.
The group on Wednesday rejected a decision by the Lebanese cabinet a day earlier that authorises the Lebanese army to draw up a plan to confine arms across the country to six official security forces by the end of the year.
The government decision followed ramped-up pressure by the United States to get the Lebanese armed group to lay down its arms, amid burgeoning fears that Israel could intensify strikes on Lebanon, even while it carries out near-daily violations of the November truce it signed with Hezbollah to end the war.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam confirmed the decree after the cabinet meeting, saying it is “the state’s duty to monopolise the possession of weapons”, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA).
Salam’s declaration on Tuesday amounted to an official rejection by the Lebanese government of Hezbollah’s military presence in the country, an unthinkable development two years ago when the group held sway in the country and its military powers were a forceful reality in the region.
In a written statement on Wednesday, Hezbollah said the move was a result of US “diktats” and that it would “deal with it as if it does not exist”.
“The government of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam committed a grave sin by taking a decision to strip Lebanon of its weapons to resist the Israeli enemy … This decision fully serves Israel’s interest,” the group said.
The statement said Shia ministers walked out of the six-hour-long cabinet session before the decision was reached as “an expression of the resistance’s [Hezbollah’s] rejection of this decision”.
The group said it remained ready to discuss a broader national security strategy and urged its supporters to remain patient.
“We are open to dialogue, ending the Israeli aggression against Lebanon, liberating its land, releasing prisoners, working to build the state, and rebuilding what was destroyed by the brutal [Israeli] aggression,” Hezbollah’s statement read.
It added that Israel must first adhere to the ceasefire agreement reached in November of last year – which Israel has been flagrantly breaking.
Underscoring regular attacks on its northern neighbour, an Israeli drone strike targeting the southern Lebanese town of Tulin killed a child and injured his father on Wednesday, the publication Al-Akhbar reported.
NNA also reported that Israeli jets dropped four bombs over the Wazzani River in the southeast of the country.
Lebanon’s cabinet is scheduled to meet again on Thursday to continue discussions on US proposals to disarm Hezbollah within a specific time frame.
Lebanese politicians have not ruled out disarming Hezbollah by force, with the Lebanese army to step in to do so if such a decision is made.
But on Friday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun warned that disarmament is a sensitive issue due to sectarian divisions within the country, and this could have consequences for national peace.
Tuesday’s session at Lebanon’s presidential palace was the first time the cabinet addressed Hezbollah’s weapons.
Hezbollah emerged weakened from war with Israel last year that saw most of the group’s senior leaders assassinated by Israel, including its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah. The conflict killed thousands of its fighters and Lebanese civilians, and left tens of thousands from the Shia and other communities displaced from their destroyed homes.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem reiterated on Tuesday as the cabinet met that the group will not lay down its weapons under Israeli fire, instead stating that the strategy should not be a timeline to disarm, and that resistance to Israel must be discussed in national consensus.
In a televised speech from a secure location, Qassem said, “The resistance is fine, strong and ready to fight for Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence … Hezbollah made heavy sacrifices to defend Lebanon against the Israeli aggression.”
