Hezbollah on Wednesday lambasted a push by the Lebanese government to disarm the Iran-backed group and vowed to ignore the US-backed effort, saying it leaves the country defenseless against Israel.
“The government of Nawaf Salam has committed a grave sin by making a decision that strips Lebanon of the weapons of the Resistance against the Israeli enemy,” Hezbollah said in a statement.
Lebanon's cabinet on Tuesday tasked the national army with establishing a state monopoly on weapons and confiscating the arms of any other groups. Though Hezbollah was not explicitly mentioned, it was the clear focus of the move.
A punishing war with Israel late last year left long-time Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah dead, scores of leaders maimed by booby traps and much of the group's missile cache destroyed.
The conflict destroyed large parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs and southern Lebanon, killing and displacing thousands of people. Israel suffered only minimal casualties and damage.
'Ready to talk'
Once Iran's most fearsome ally in the region, Hezbollah lost a key lifeline to Tehran with the ouster of the Assad dynasty by Sunni Islamist rebels in neighboring Syria and now faces an uncertain future under its ageing clerical leader Naim Qassem.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam mandated that the plan to collect weapons from non-state actors be completed by year's end. Hezbollah vowed to spurn the initiative.
“We will treat this decision as though it does not exist,” Hezbollah added. “We are ready to discuss a national security strategy, but not under the sound of aggression.”
Israel routinely launches drone and air strikes inside Lebanon against targets it deems a security threat while it maintains a limited presence on the country's soil.
Hezbollah has vowed never to disarm until Israel fully withdraws from what it deems Lebanese territory.
'Surrender'
The group further criticized the United States special envoy Tom Barrack, saying the Lebanese government move heeded his “diktats".
“What the government has decided is part of a surrender strategy and a clear abandonment of the fundamentals of Lebanon’s sovereignty,” Hezbollah said.
Founded in 1982 by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hezbollah is blamed for deadly bomb attacks on US and French military personnel based in Lebanon during the country's civil war.
Its guerrilla campaign ultimately ejected an Israeli occupation in the country's South but ultimately its arms crumpled in the face of its arch-foe's attacks last year.
Hezbollah is designated as a terrorist group by the United States, United Kingdom and Germany, while receiving extensive military and financial support from Iran.
Hardline voices in Tehran have slammed the Lebanese initiative.
“The wish to disarm Hezbollah will go to your grave,” security journalist Hossein Saremi posted on X.
