Hezbollah will not surrender its weapons as long as Israel exists, the group’s deputy leader Naim Qassem said on Friday, warning the Lebanese government it bears “full responsibility” for defending the country’s territory and preventing internal unrest.
Speaking in Baalbek during the 40th-day commemoration of Imam Hussein, Qassem likened Hezbollah’s stance to a “Karbala-like battle” against what he called the “Israeli-American project” and vowed to pay “any price” to resist disarmament.
He urged the government to “stop the aggression and expel Israel from Lebanon” and warned that protests over attempts to strip Hezbollah of its weapons could escalate to the US Embassy in Beirut.
The remarks follow a Lebanese Cabinet decision last week instructing the army to draft a disarmament plan and endorsing a US-backed proposal for exclusive state control of all weapons. Hezbollah condemned the move as a “grave mistake” and pledged non-compliance.
The dispute comes amid ongoing Israeli military activity in southern Lebanon despite a ceasefire reached in November 2024. Israel launched a major offensive in October 2023 that escalated into full-scale war by September 2024, killing over 4,000 people. Under the truce, Israel was to withdraw from all southern positions by January 26, 2025, but has maintained a presence at five border outposts after refusing to fully comply.
