BEIRUT, Apr 19 (NNN-NNA) – Hezbollah leader, Naim Qassem, yesterday dismissed calls for the Hezbollah to disarm, warning, any such effort was a “delusion” that would serve Israeli interests.
“No one will be allowed to remove the weapons of the resistance,” Qassem said, during a public address, focused on Lebanon’s defence strategy, and the current political landscape. “Israel wants to see Lebanon weak and defenseless, so it can fulfill its expansionist ambitions.”
He argued that, proposals to disarm Hezbollah under the pretext of strengthening the state, amounted to offering a “gift” to Israel. The resistance movement’s weapons, Qassem said, were a response to Israeli occupation and aggression, and remained essential to safeguarding Lebanon’s sovereignty.
“The Lebanese army alone is not equipped to defend the country,” he said, asserting that, Hezbollah’s military role was necessary alongside state institutions.
The remarks escalate a simmering debate over Hezbollah’s military autonomy, which has long divided Lebanese politics. Qassem accused domestic critics, advocating disarmament, of promoting foreign agendas and inflaming artificial crises. “The true danger is Israel’s occupation and ongoing aggression,” he said.
Lebanese President, Joseph Aoun, during a visit to Qatar this week, reaffirmed his commitment to bringing all weapons under state control by 2025, emphasising that, the process must be driven by “domestic consensus, not external dictates.” He also praised Hezbollah’s “restraint” since a Nov truce with Israel, citing the handover of more than 100 positions near the Litani River.
Prime Minister, Nawaf Salam, echoed the president’s stance in an interview with Saudi broadcaster Al Arabiya, stating that, “only the state may decide matters of war and peace.”
Both Aoun and Salam, who have publicly questioned Hezbollah’s military role, assumed office in recent months, following more than a year of intense conflicts between Hezbollah and Israel. Their appointments have been widely interpreted as a sign of Hezbollah’s waning influence within Lebanon’s political establishment.– NNN-NNA
