TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2025
Hezbollah leader rejects disarmament demands, labels them 'gift' to Israel
Published on Apr 19, 2025
By IANS
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- BEIRUT — Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has dismissed calls for the group to disarm, warning that any such effort was a "delusion" that would serve Israeli interests.
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- "No one will be allowed to remove the weapons of the resistance," Qassem said on Friday during a public address focused on Lebanon's defence strategy and the current political landscape.
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- "Israel wants to see Lebanon weak and defenceless so it can fulfill its expansionist ambitions."
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- He argued that proposals to disarm Hezbollah under the pretext of strengthening the state amounted to offering a "gift" to Israel, Xinhua news agency reported.
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- The resistance movement's weapons, Qassem said, were a response to Israeli occupation and aggression, and remained essential to safeguarding Lebanon's sovereignty.
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- "The Lebanese army alone is not equipped to defend the country," he said, asserting that Hezbollah's military role was necessary alongside state institutions.
- Read: Israel expects attack by Iran, Hezbollah this week
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- The remarks escalate a simmering debate over Hezbollah's military autonomy, which has long divided Lebanese politics.
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- Qassem accused domestic critics advocating disarmament of promoting foreign agendas and inflaming artificial crises.
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- "The true danger is Israel's occupation and ongoing aggression," he said.
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- 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".
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- He also praised Hezbollah's "restraint" since a November truce with Israel, citing the group's handover of more than 100 positions near the Litani River.
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- 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".
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- 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 the group and Israel.
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- Their appointments have been widely interpreted as a sign of Hezbollah's waning influence within Lebanon's political establishment.
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- Under the November ceasefire, Israel was meant to withdraw all of its forces from south Lebanon.
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- But despite the deal, its troops have remained at five south Lebanon positions that they deem "strategic".
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- Israel has also continued to carry out near-daily strikes against Lebanon -- including on Friday -- saying it is targeting members of Hezbollah.
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