Wed 06 August 2025:

Hezbollah has rejected a decision by the Lebanese government directing the army to formulate a plan remove the group’s weapons.

“We will deal with this decision as if it doesn’t exist,” Hezbollah said in a statement.

The decree, announced by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, amounted to an official rejection by the Lebanese government to Hezbollah’s military presence in the country. It re-asserted that only the state will have the right to have arms.

It also put the Lebanese army on a potential course to clash with Hezbollah, which could lead to a civil war.

Hezbollah said the decision is dictated by the US and only serves Israel’s interests.

“This decision topples the sovereignty of Lebanon and releases the hand of Israel to ravage its security, geography, politics and future existence,” the group said.

Hezbollah added that it would be willing to discuss a defence strategy to end “Israeli aggression” in Lebanon, liberate its land, free the country’s captives in Israel and build a Lebanese state, but not while under Israel’s attacks.

It said Israel must first adhere to the ceasefire agreement reached in November of last year.

“And to our honourable people we say: This is a summer cloud that will pass,” Hezbollah said.

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Lebanon’s army to prepare plan for state arms monopoly by year-end

The Lebanese Cabinet has authorized the army to prepare a plan to consolidate weapons under state control by the end of this year, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Tuesday evening, Anadolu reports.

The decision was taken during a Cabinet session chaired by President Joseph Aoun to discuss the disarmament of non-state groups, primarily Hezbollah.

Speaking at a press conference following the session, Salam said the Cabinet also agreed to continue discussions on a US proposal for arms control during a government meeting scheduled for Aug. 7.

Hezbollah won’t be allowed to ‘drag Lebanon to suicide’: Justice minister

Lebanon’s justice minister said Sunday that Hezbollah would be choosing “suicide” if it refuses to disarm, warning that the group would not be allowed to drag the country into the same fate.

“If Hezbollah chooses suicide by refusing to surrender its weapons, it will not be permitted to drag Lebanon and its people with it,” Adel Nassar wrote on X.

In a press conference on Friday, Nassar stated that no country can function in the presence of weapons beyond state control.

“There can be no real state in the presence of arms outside of legitimacy,” he added.

The minister warned that “illegal weapons have become a burden that threatens internal stability and opens the door to security, economic, and diplomatic disasters for which all Lebanese pay the price.”

On Thursday, President Joseph Aoun revealed during a speech at the Defense Ministry that the US had presented a series of proposals concerning weapons control.

“The American side submitted a set of ideas. We made substantial modifications, which we will present to the Cabinet next week,” he said.

He added that Lebanon demanded an immediate halt to Israeli attacks, Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory, full enforcement of state authority, and the disarmament of all armed factions, including Hezbollah.

On Friday, Army Commander Gen. Rodolphe Haykal said the continued Israeli presence in southern Lebanon remains the only obstacle preventing the full deployment of Lebanese military units in the area.

Israel launched a military offensive in Lebanon on Oct. 8, 2023, which escalated into a full-scale war by September 2024, killing more than 4,000 people and injuring around 17,000.

A ceasefire was reached in November, but Israeli forces have conducted near-daily attacks in southern Lebanon, claiming to target activities of the Lebanese Hezbollah group.

Under the truce, Israel was supposed to fully withdraw from southern Lebanon by Jan. 26, but the deadline was extended to Feb. 18 after Tel Aviv refused to comply. Israel still maintains a military presence at five border outposts.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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