After the Lebanese government tasked the army with disarming the terror group Hezbollah by the end of the year, the group vowed on Wednesday to ignore the decision, which it called a “gift” for Israel.
“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.”
Following a six-hour Cabinet meeting set to resume on Thursday, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stated that the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) had been instructed to draft a plan outlining how it intends to enforce the state monopoly on weapons by the end of this year.
“Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has committed a grave sin by agreeing to strip Lebanon of its weapons against the Israeli enemy,” continued Hezbollah’s statement.
“This will weaken Lebanon’s strength and standing in the face of continued Israeli-American aggression.”
The group 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.”
There is growing concern that the group – still likely the country’s most powerful military force despite suffering heavy losses to the Israeli military last year – could spark violent unrest or even trigger a new civil war.
The Cabinet meeting was accompanied by raucous demonstrations of Hezbollah supporters, many of whom rode through the capital, Beirut, on motorcycles while waving flags of Iran, the terror group and its slain leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
On Wednesday, Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, published what it claimed was the final offer transmitted by U.S. envoy Tom Barrack as part of the U.S. plan to help reconstruct the country while depriving Hezbollah of its influence over the state.
The proposal is said to be titled, “Extension and Stabilization of the Ceasefire Declaration Between Lebanon and Israel, November 2024,” and includes several clauses.
The plan calls for Lebanon to recommit to the 1989 Taif Agreement, which ended the Lebanese civil war, its own constitution, and UN Security Council resolutions, aiming to extend the state’s full sovereignty over its territory –including areas that were under the control of Hezbollah and other terror groups – and to dismantle them.
The proposal also calls for Israel to complete the withdrawal of Israeli forces – including from five strategic positions it still holds in southern Lebanon – and to cease airstrikes in the country.
The United States also seeks to permanently define the disputed international border between Israel and Lebanon, as well as an economic summit to support the Lebanese economy and reconstruction efforts.
If successful, the American plan could succeed in dragging Lebanon out of Iran’s orbit and integrate it into its Middle Eastern alliance system.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi vowed on Wednesday that Iran would continue to support Hezbollah.
“Any decision on this matter will ultimately rest with Hezbollah itself. We support it from afar, but we do not intervene in its decisions,” Araghchi said, adding that the group has since “rebuilt itself” following the war with Israel.
Araghchi’s comments were strongly criticized by Sami al-Gemayyel, a parliament member for the Christian Phalange Party.
“Iran’s Foreign Minister is the last person who can lecture the Lebanese government. He should take care of his own country and leave us to rebuild what he has destroyed in our country,” he wrote on 𝕏.
“Your guardianship over Lebanon has ended and will not return,” Gemayyel continued, urging Lebanon to expel the Iranian ambassador.
