In historic step, Lebanon’s gov’t tasks army with disarming Hezbollah by end of the year
Cabinet session was left in protest by Shiite ministers, accompanied by demonstrations of Hezbollah supporters

The Lebanese government has instructed the army to implement the state monopoly of arms by the end of the year, effectively ordering it to disarm the terror organization Hezbollah, the country’s most powerful military force.
The historic step was announced on Tuesday, after a six-hour Cabinet session from which the Shiite ministers left in protest, and was accompanied by demonstrations of Hezbollah supporters.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said his government “tasked the Lebanese Army with setting an implementation plan to restrict weapons” to state-sanctioned forces “before the end of this year,” and to present how it plans to do so by the end of the month.
It was the first time that the Lebanese government openly discussed the issue of Hezbollah’s weapons arsenal, which it has built up over decades with help from the Iranian regime.
Over the past years, the group’s armed forces became larger and more powerful than the state military, while its parliamentary wing dominated the political landscape.
Environment Minister Tamara al-Zein of the Shiite Amal Movement and Health Minister Rakan Nassereddine – both affiliated with Hezbollah – walked out of the session shortly before its end in protest, while two other Amal and Hezbollah ministers did not attend.
Salam also announced that the Cabinet would discuss the latest U.S. paper in its next session on Thursday. Following the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel, the U.S. has pressured Lebanon by promising broad support for reconstruction while demanding that the terror group disarm and that state control be extended over the whole country.
“Washington is pressuring Lebanon to make Hezbollah hand over its weapons according to a timetable, but without providing any guarantees,” a Lebanese official told AFP.
Hezbollah won’t lay down its arms “without something in return– the Americans know this well,” he added.
While the Cabinet was in session, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem threatened that the group would not agree to a timetable for its disarmament, reiterating that Hezbollah's weapons were meant to defend the country against “Israeli aggression.”
“The resistance is fine, strong and dignified, its supporters are resilient and coherent, and its fighters are ready to offer the dearest sacrifices,” he said in a televised address.
He also mentioned that 5,000 Hezbollah fighters were killed and 13,000 wounded in the war with Israel, the first official toll published by the group.
“We cannot accept Lebanon committing to gradually giving up its strength while all the strength cards remain in the hands of the Israeli enemy,” he said, calling the U.S.’s demands “dictates” which remove “the strength and capabilities of Hezbollah and Lebanon entirely.”
“We do not agree to any new deal other than the existing deal between the Lebanese state and the Israeli entity,” Qassem said regarding the November ceasefire deal, which requires both Hezbollah and Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon.
The terror group has insisted that Israel must halt its strikes on Hezbollah targets, fully withdraw from Lebanon, release its prisoners, and begin reconstruction of the damaged areas before it will agree to discuss the future of its weapons.
“Israel's interest is not to widen the aggression because if they expand, the resistance will defend, the army will defend and the people will defend,” Qassem warned. “This defense will lead to missiles falling inside the Israeli entity.”
On Monday and Tuesday, thousands of Hezbollah supporters roamed Beirut and its southern Dahiyeh suburb in a show of strength and defiance of the government’s plans.
Hezbollah Parliament Member Ali Al-Moqdad told Russian state news agency Sputnik that Hezbollah rejected foreign pressure, asking, “Is this session necessary for Lebanon, or for the Israelis and Americans?”
Since November, the Lebanese Armed Forces has gradually extended its deployment across southern Lebanon and into areas where Hezbollah previously held sway.
However, the IDF has continued to closely monitor the group's activities and has attacked it numerous times, in southern Lebanon as well as deeper in the country.
On Wednesday, the military announced it had killed in the Bekaa Valley a Hezbollah terrorist, who operated from Lebanese territory to direct terrorist cells in Syria.
"These terrorist cells planned to launch rocket attacks toward the Golan Heights," the IDF said.
"The terrorist’s activity posed a threat to the State of Israel and to Israeli civilians. The IDF will continue to operate in order to remove any threat posed to the State of Israel."
This article originally appeared on ALL ARAB NEWS and is reposted with permission.