Naim Qassem says group will not abandon weapons ‘that protect us from our enemy’, insists on end to Israeli attacks.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem has rejected growing pressure to disarm the group, warning that Lebanon’s sovereignty could only be achieved by ending Israeli “aggression”.
Speaking on Monday from Beirut, Qassem said the Lebanese government must first ensure Israel complies with a November 2024 ceasefire agreement before talks on a national defence strategy can take place.
“The resistance will remain as a strong barrier preventing Israel from achieving its goals, and Israel will not be able to remain in Lebanon or achieve its expansionist project through Lebanon,” the Hezbollah chief said.
He dismissed Lebanese government and foreign proposals to integrate Hezbollah’s arsenal into a national defence strategy, insisting that Israel must first withdraw from Lebanese territory, release prisoners, and halt attacks.
“If you truly want sovereignty, then stop the aggression. We will not abandon the weapons that honour us, nor the weapons that protect us from our enemy,” Qassem said.
“If this government continues in its current form, it cannot be trusted to safeguard Lebanon’s sovereignty,” he added.
Last month, the Lebanese Council of Ministers approved a resolution tasking the army with formulating a plan to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year.
The decree was in accordance with a United States initiative that includes vague promises that Israel would end its occupation of parts of south Lebanon and daily attacks on the country if Hezbollah’s weapons are removed.
Hezbollah has said it will treat the decision “as if it doesn’t exist”.
Qassem’s comments came as Israel said it would consider scaling back its military presence in southern Lebanon if Beirut’s armed forces moved to seize Hezbollah’s weapons. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced Monday that Israel was ready to support Lebanon’s cabinet decision tasking the army with a disarmament plan by year-end.
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“If the Lebanese Armed Forces take the necessary steps to implement the disarmament of Hezbollah, Israel will engage in reciprocal measures, including a phased reduction” by the Israeli military, the Israeli prime minister’s office said.
The Israeli announcement came a day after Netanyahu met with US envoy Tom Barrack, who has been heavily involved in a plan that would disarm Hezbollah and withdraw Israeli forces from Lebanon.
‘Step-by-step’
Barrack called on Israel to honour commitments under a ceasefire with Hezbollah.
“There’s always a step-by-step approach but I think the Lebanese government has done their part. They’ve taken the first step. Now what we need is Israel to comply,” Barrack said during meetings with Lebanese officials in Beirut last week.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency on Monday reported US deputy envoy Morgan Ortagus had arrived in Beirut before planned meetings with officials.
Israel still occupies five positions in southern Lebanon, despite a US-brokered ceasefire last November. It was to withdraw its forces within two months, and Lebanon’s armed forces were to take control of the country’s south, territory that has long been a stronghold for Hezbollah.
Israeli forces have continued to carry out air attacks across Lebanon in near-daily violations of the November truce, causing deaths and injuries among civilians, including Syrian refugees, and destruction of properties and infrastructure.
In the latest Israeli aggression, one person was killed in a drone attack in southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said the drone hit a pick-up truck on the Ain al-Mazrab-Tebnine road in the Bint Jbeil district.
Later on Monday, the Israeli military claimed in a statement it had killed a Hezbollah member and would “continue to operate to remove threats posed to the citizens of Israel”.
Hezbollah, the only faction that kept its weapons after Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war, emerged badly weakened from last year’s war with Israel, with the assassination of senior leaders, including former chief Hassan Nasrallah, thousands of its fighters and Lebanese civilians killed, and tens of thousands of the Shia and other communities displaced from their destroyed homes.
The latest developments come as the United Nations Security Council prepares to vote Monday on extending the mandate of UNIFIL, the international peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, until August 2026.