ALBAWABA- Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem strongly rejected the Lebanese government’s decision to disarm the resistance, declaring that surrendering Hezbollah’s weapons would amount to stripping the movement of its very soul.
“Whoever wants to disarm us wants to take away our dignity, our land, our future, and the souls of our martyrs. Our weapons are our existence, and the world will see our strengths if they try to take them,” Qassem said in a fiery speech Monday.
Qassem warned that Israel “may occupy and destroy, but we will confront it to prevent it from achieving its goals,” stressing that without Hezbollah’s resistance, Israel “would have reached Beirut as it reached Damascus.” He credited Hezbollah with preventing Israel from advancing beyond a handful of positions in southern Lebanon.
The Hezbollah leader condemned the Lebanese government’s disarmament plan as “unconstitutional” and carried out under “Israeli dictates,” arguing that such a move undermines Lebanon’s sovereignty. “If the government does not retract its decision, it is not a trustee of Lebanon’s sovereignty,” he asserted.
Qassem also lashed out at Washington, accusing the United States of seeking to “sabotage Lebanon” through sanctions, blocking reconstruction aid, and preventing the country from acquiring defensive weapons.
He further dismissed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s talk of a “Greater Israel” as a dangerous expansionist project targeting Lebanon and the wider region.
As an alternative, Qassem outlined what he called a roadmap: ending Israeli aggression, securing withdrawal from occupied territories, releasing prisoners, and beginning reconstruction. Only then, he said, could Lebanon discuss a national defense strategy.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the Lebanese government’s decision to restrict weapons to the state, calling it “an opportunity to restore sovereignty and build institutions.” He said Israel would take “reciprocal steps” and gradually scale down its presence in southern Lebanon if Hezbollah is disarmed.
Lebanon’s Interior Minister confirmed that the army will present its arms control plan to the government in September, with security forces tasked to maintain stability during the transition.
A military source told Al-Arabiya/Al-Hadath that the plan to take over Hezbollah’s weapons is nearly complete.
In response, Hezbollah has called for mass street demonstrations on Tuesday to reject the government’s decision and reaffirm its refusal to give up its arsenal.
