Hezbollah defies Lebanon’s US-backed disarmament plan, vows to keep weapons

Hezbollah’s current leader has reaffirmed that the Lebanese armed group will not relinquish its weapons, directly contradicting the Lebanese government’s commitment to follow through on a US-backed disarmament plan.

The militant group's leader, Naim Qassem, declared his outright rejection of the disarmament plan during a memorial service in the Lebanese capital on September 27, marking the one-year anniversary of the targeted killing by Israel of former leader Hassan Nasrallah, Al Jazeera reports.

Addressing the thousands gathered at Nasrallah’s tomb, Qassem vowed to maintain Hezbollah’s military capabilities, which have been weakened by its recent conflict with Israel.

“We will never abandon our weapons, nor will we relinquish them,” he said, adding that Hezbollah would continue to “confront any project that serves Israel.”

His remarks come despite Lebanon’s new government publicly committing to disarming the Iran-backed group, a plan largely promoted by the US.

According to the report, tensions escalated between Hezbollah supporters and opponents across Lebanon ahead of Nasrallah’s death anniversary.

Images of Nasrallah and his heir apparent, Hashem Safieddine—who was also killed in an Israeli airstrike just weeks after Nasrallah—were projected onto rocks off the Beirut coast this week, despite orders from Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam prohibiting the display. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary, Ali Larijani, also attended the commemoration.

The article notes that Hezbollah suffered a serious setback when Israel’s intelligence agency detonated explosives secretly planted inside thousands of pagers used by the group’s members for communication a year after joining the conflict with Israel, which also caused numerous Lebanese civilian casualties.

In response to the Lebanese government’s approval of the US disarmament plan in August, Hezbollah Political Council Deputy Chief Mahmoud Komati called the decision a “march in humiliation” and described it as a surrender to Israel and the US.

Beirut’s push to curb Hezbollah follows pressure from US Special Envoy Tom Barrack, who presented the government with detailed proposals including a timetable for disarmament. The phased plan aims to “extend and stabilise” the ceasefire, requiring Lebanon to remove Hezbollah’s arsenal under “a detailed [Lebanese army] deployment plan,” while also calling on Israel to halt attacks and withdraw from five positions it continued to occupy in southern Lebanon after the ceasefire deal.

By Nazrin Sadigova