Hezbollah not to surrender weapons despite Lebanese government order, group's chief says

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem has stated that the group does not intend to surrender its weapons, despite the Lebanese government’s decision on disarmament.

In an interview with Al-Manar TV, Qassem emphasised that armed resistance is a legitimate right of the Lebanese people and is not open to debate.

“Possessing weapons is an inseparable part of our lawful right to defend our homeland. Resistance is a legitimate right. The Lebanese state itself decides how it should act internally regarding weapons. Israel has nothing to do with this,” he said.

According to Qassem, if the Lebanese army “cannot repel attacks on its own,” cooperation between the military and the “people’s resistance” is necessary.

He rejected proposals for disarmament, saying: “It is necessary to coordinate the actions of the army and the resistance to counter this. But no one has the right to say: ‘Let’s surrender weapons so there will be no excuse’ — why should we disarm and then wait for aggression to return? First, we stop the attacks, and then we talk about the issue of weapons.”

The Hezbollah leader also commented on the attack on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s house in Caesarea during the war, stating: “The strike on Netanyahu’s house was deliberate, intended to harm him or his residence. The target was the house, not specifically the bedroom. It was an intelligence and operational achievement, as he was injured.”

By Khagan Isayev