Hezbollah issued a sharp rebuke Wednesday afternoon in response to the Lebanese government's reported intention to disarm the group, following a dramatic cabinet session held on Tuesday. “We will act as if the decision does not exist,” the group declared, calling the move “a gift to Israel that leaves Lebanon exposed to the Israeli enemy with no deterrence.”
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, alongside Prime Minister Najib Mikati, is advancing a proposal to consolidate all weapons under the authority of the Lebanese state — a move that would effectively require Hezbollah to relinquish its arsenal. The initiative comes in the context of a proposed ceasefire agreement with Israel, under which the Lebanese Armed Forces would be deployed to enforce a ban on Hezbollah's presence south of the Litani River.
As Lebanese cabinet discussed disarming Hezbollah, organization "threatened" with motorcycle convoys
The current debate now centers on what will happen to the group’s arsenal north of the river, where Hezbollah maintains significant military infrastructure.
Lebanon’s cabinet meeting, which lasted several hours on Monday, ended without a final decision — with Prime Minister Najib Mikati announcing that the session would resume on Thursday. Mikati stated that the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) had been tasked with drafting an implementation plan to address the issue of weapons monopoly in the country, to be submitted to the cabinet no later than the 31st of the month.
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Naim Qassem, Joseph Aoun
(Photos: Aziz Taher/File Photo/Reuters, AFP / HO / Lebanese Presidency)
The announcement triggered an immediate and furious response from Hezbollah. “Prime Minister Najib Mikati has committed a grave sin by agreeing to strip Lebanon of its weapons against the Israeli enemy,” the group declared Tuesday afternoon. “This will weaken Lebanon’s strength and standing in the face of continued Israeli-American aggression.”
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Hezbollah added: “This decision gives Israel what it failed to achieve through attacks on Lebanon. It violates the ministerial declaration, which states that the government is committed to using all necessary means to liberate all Lebanese territory from Israeli occupation, to extend Lebanese sovereignty through its own forces, and to deploy the army along the recognized border. Preserving Lebanon’s strength and the weapons of the resistance are essential to the country’s resilience.”
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Hezbollah supporters with Iranian flags in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, during a government discussion on disarming the organization
Calling the cabinet decision “part of a surrender strategy,” Hezbollah confirmed that its ministers — along with those from the Shiite Amal Movement — walked out of the meeting in protest, describing it as a rejection of the attempt to place Lebanon under “American patronage and Israeli occupation.”
There is growing concern in Beirut that Hezbollah, significantly weakened in its ongoing confrontation with Israel but still a dominant military and political force, could instigate violent unrest in response to the move. On Monday, shortly after the cabinet convened, supporters of the group were seen riding motorcycles through the Hezbollah stronghold of Dahiyeh in southern Beirut, waving flags of Iran and displaying images of the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.