Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem on Sunday again rejected efforts to disarm Iran’s Lebanese terror proxy, saying that seizing the group’s weapons “is an Israeli-American plan.”
Paying tribute to late Hezbollah official Mohammad Yaghi (Abu Salim) on the second anniversary of his death, Qassem was quoted by AFP as saying that “to demand exclusive arms control while Israel is committing aggression and America is imposing its will on Lebanon, stripping it of its power, means that you are not working in Lebanon’s interest, but rather in the interest of what Israel wants.”
The Lebanese military is working to complete Hezbollah’s disarmament south of the Litani River by year’s end, under a U.S.-backed ceasefire agreement.
Qassem argued in the televised address that Lebanon should not move forward with disarmament until Israel fulfills its commitments under the ceasefire agreement. The November 2024 ceasefire was meant to end more than a year of fighting between Israel and the Iranian terror proxy.
Lebanese army chief Rudolph Haykal said last week the military is finishing the first phase of its disarmament plan.
Jerusalem has continuously struck Hezbollah targets since the ceasefire took effect, in response to the terror group’s attempts to rebuild its offensive capabilities in violation of the truce.
