Tensions are mounting over the weekend as Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem reiterated his position that Hezbollah will not disarm as ordered by the government, accusing the government of “handing” the nation to Israel with a disarmament order that doesn’t necessarily ensure Israel will stop actively attacking Lebanese territory.
Qassem insisted they will refuse disarmament and fight, if necessary, to be able to continue to resist Israeli aggression. He added that the disarmament order may lead “to civil war and internal strife.”
Justice Minister Adel Nasser condemned Qassem’s comments as contradictory with his previous expressions of support for the ceasefire, and suggested Hezbollah would bear full responsibility if attempts to resist efforts to bring weapons control under a state monopoly led to clashes.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem | Image is CC 2.0 from Wikimedia
The US had been pushing Lebanon to agree to disarmament for months, and in July they gave them a 90 day deadline, which US envoy Tom Barrack said that Israel actually set for them. Protests in early August opposed the disarmament calls, and Hezbollah repeatedly rejected the idea, since Barrack insisted he wouldn’t even broach the subject of getting Israel to stop attacking Lebanon.
Israel invaded Lebanon in late 2024, and a ceasefire was agreed to in November. The condition was that all fighting would stop, Hezbollah would move north of the Litani River, and Israel would withdraw occupation forces.
The ceasefire has been checkered, at best. Hezbollah has not fired any rockets at Israel since then, but Israel has launched near daily attacks, Israel retains occupation forces at multiple sites in Lebanon, and is constantly threatening escalation.
Hezbollah insisted on a cessation of hostilities before disarmament, though the deal the Lebanese government agreed to with the US requires disarmament first and only speculatively suggests Israel would eventually withdraw and stop attacking. Over a week after the deal was announced it remains unclear if Israel even agreed to this.
Even if Israel did nominally agree to stop attacking under the US plan, which again is unverified, they plainly agreed to that same thing in November’s ceasefire deal, and never delivered on it. The US, one of the guarantors of the ceasefire, has never publicly criticized the constant Israeli attacks, and has praised them for their “commitment” to the deal.
