One day after Lebanon’s government approved a plan to disarm all non-state armed groups, including Hezbollah, the Shiite movement issued a sharp rebuke, accusing Prime Minister Nawaf Salam of yielding to U.S. pressure and stripping the country of its primary means of defense against Israel.
In a statement released Wednesday, Hezbollah called the decision a “grave sin” and “a flagrant violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty,” vowing to treat it “as if it does not exist.” The group’s ministers, along with those from the allied Amal Movement and an independent Shiite minister, walked out of Tuesday’s cabinet meeting in protest before the vote was taken.
Lebanese Information Minister Paul Morcos later confirmed that the cabinet adopted the first page of a U.S.-mediated proposal, which calls for all weapons to be placed under state control and for armed groups operating outside official structures to be disarmed by year’s end.
Prime Minister Salam said the government had tasked the army with drafting a plan to consolidate arms under the authority of six official security agencies. He told the state-run National News Agency it was “the state’s duty to monopolise the possession of weapons.” Hezbollah countered that the move undermines Lebanon’s ability to resist “ongoing Israeli-U.S. assaults” and effectively grants Israel freedom to operate in Lebanon after failing to achieve its aims through military action.
The group said any security arrangement must begin with Israel’s full withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory and adherence to the November ceasefire, which Hezbollah accuses Israel of violating through near-daily strikes.
