Hezbollah has informed Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri that it will not surrender its weapons to the government, al-Hadath reported on Wednesday, contradicting previous indications that the terror group was willing to disarm.

Unnamed sources told the Saudi outlet that Hezbollah’s refusal to disarm would continue even if Israel were to withdraw from the five strategic points it has been holding since a ceasefire between the adversaries came into effect in November.

According to the report, in a meeting with Tom Barrack — the US ambassador to Turkey and envoy to Syria, who has also recently taken on a diplomatic role in Lebanon — Berri said the Lebanese government could not promise to disarm Hezbollah north of the Litani River, which has historically served as the line north of which Israel has historically demanded that Hezbollah withdraw its forces.

The Lebanese government believes Hezbollah’s obstinacy regarding its arms is “a waste of an opportunity,” but Beirut is nevertheless moving forward with its commitment to have the government monopolize weapons in the country, the sources said.

After a recent meeting with Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, the head of the Maronite Church, Barrack said, “I understand the difficulties in Lebanon, and I hope communication between its leaders will continue. It is up to the Lebanese state to decide its own fate, and we are ready to help.”

He also stressed the importance of “limiting weapons to the Lebanese state while exercising patience.”

Barrack’s visit was his third in the past two months. The purpose of this trip was to receive an official response to a US proposal for disarming Hezbollah, which he had presented in his second visit.

The Lebanese, however, did not provide a timeline or concrete steps for disarmament. Instead, Beirut requested that the US pressure Israel to withdraw gradually from the country’s south, and, in return, Lebanon would take steps toward consolidating weapons under state control.

Official sources told al-Hadath that Barrack said the US is ready to assist in disarming Hezbollah, but cannot offer guarantees to Beirut or force Israel to withdraw. He also emphasized that disarmament is ultimately an internal Lebanese issue.

Israel and Hezbollah engaged in hostilities for over a year after the Lebanese terror group began firing at Israel, unprovoked, in solidarity with its ally Hamas and its massacre in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

In October 2024, the conflict turned into an all-out war that saw an Israeli ground invasion of southern Lebanon and bombardment of Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut. A ceasefire deal was reached in November, but Israel has remained at five strategic points in southern Lebanon and has occasionally struck Hezbollah targets it says are violating the agreement.

During the war, Israel decapitated Hezbollah’s leadership and severely damaged its personnel and military infrastructure. The weakening of the terror group allowed the Lebanese government to begin initiating a campaign for its disarmament.

It had previously been reported that Hezbollah was considering partial disarmament because of the damage it sustained during the war.