Beirut (TDI): Hezbollah “will not let anyone disarm” it, the Lebanese group’s leader Naim Qassem said on Friday, as the United States presses Beirut to compel the movement to hand over its weapons.
Hezbollah, long a dominant force in Lebanese politics, was left weakened by more than a year of war with Israel sparked by the Gaza conflict, including an Israeli ground incursion and two months of heavy bombardment that decimated the organization’s leadership.
The fighting was largely brought to an end by a ceasefire in November last year, but not before the group’s longtime leader and Qassem’s predecessor Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated in an Israeli air strike.
“We will not let anyone disarm Hezbollah or disarm the resistance” against Israel, Qassem said in a statement on a Hezbollah-affiliated TV channel. “We must remove this idea of disarmament from the dictionary.”
His remarks came hours after another Hezbollah official said the group refused to talk handing over its weapons unless Israel withdrew completely from south Lebanon and stopped its “aggression”.
“It is not a question of disarming,” Wafic Safa stated in an interview with the group’s Al-Nur radio station. “What the president Joseph Aoun said in his first speech is a defensive strategy.”
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Safa asked: “Wouldn’t it be logical for Israel to first withdraw, then free the prisoners, cease its aggression and then we talk about a defensive strategy?
“The defensive strategy is about thinking about how to safeguard Lebanon, not preparing for the group to hand over its weapons.”
Under the November ceasefire, Israel was meant to withdraw all of its troops from south Lebanon. But despite the agreement, its forces have remained at five south Lebanon points that they consider “strategic”.
Israel has also continued to carry out near-daily attacks against Lebanon – including on Friday – stating it is targeting members of Hezbollah.
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Under the ceasefire agreement, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of Lebanon’s Litani River and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.
Lebanon’s army has been deploying in the south as Israeli troops pulled back.
Safa said both Hezbollah and the Lebanese army were respecting the terms of the deal. “The problem is Israel, which has not done so,” he said.
