Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called on Hezbollah to hand over its weapons to the army, a move the Iran-backed terror group is resisting as the US ramps up pressure for it to remove its arsenal.
“It is the duty of all political parties… to seize this historic opportunity without hesitation and push for the exclusivity of weapons in the hands of the army and security forces and no one else,” Aoun said in a televised speech in the defense ministry’s headquarters.
Lebanon has proposed modifications to “ideas” submitted by the United States on Hezbollah’s disarmament, Aoun added. He said a plan would be discussed at a cabinet meeting next week to “establish a timetable for implementation.”
Since taking office in January, Aoun has pushed for a state monopoly on arms, which Hezbollah has refused for decades. The terror group began near-daily cross-border attacks on Israel on October 8, 2023, a day after the Hamas-led onslaught, and continued until the two sides reached a ceasefire in November 2024.
Hezbollah emerged badly damaged from that conflict, but has refused to disarm. Israel has kept troops in five points in southern Lebanon and continues to carry out airstrikes when it sees infractions of the ceasefire.
“Those who call for submitting arms practically demand submitting them to Israel,” the group’s chief, Sheikh Naim Qassem, said on Wednesday. “We will not submit to Israel.”
In a televised address marking the first anniversary of the targeted killing by Israel of senior commander Fuad Shukr, Qassem said: “Anyone calling today for the surrender of weapons, whether internally or externally, on the Arab or the international stage, is serving the Israeli project.”
He accused US envoy Tom Barrack of using “intimidation and threats” with the aim of “aiding Israel.”
The November truce was based on a previous UN Security Council resolution from 2006 that said only the Lebanese military and UN peacekeepers can possess weapons in the country’s south, and that all non-state groups should be disarmed.
However, that resolution went unfulfilled for years. Hezbollah’s arsenal before the latest war was seen as far superior to the Lebanese army’s, and the group wielded extensive political influence.
Under the November ceasefire, Hezbollah was to withdraw its fighters north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border. The agreement left vague how Hezbollah’s weapons and military facilities north of the river should be treated, saying Lebanese authorities should dismantle unauthorized facilities starting with the area to the south.
Hezbollah maintains the deal only covers the area south of the Litani, while Israel and the US say it mandates disarmament of the group throughout Lebanon.
The US has been pushing Lebanon to issue a formal cabinet decision committing to disarm Hezbollah before talks can resume on a halt to Israeli military operations in the country, five sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Aoun — whose election was made possible in part by the shifting balance of power in the wake of the conflict — said the proposal that will be presented to the cabinet next week states that Israel should stop its attacks on Lebanon and withdraw from the posts it occupies in the south of the country, along with calling on Hezbollah to hand over its arms.
Lebanon has also committed to disarming Palestinian groups that control refugee camps in the country.
The proposal seeks to secure $1 billion annually for 10 years to support the army and the security forces and includes plans for an international conference to take place later in the year to support reconstruction efforts in Lebanon.
In his speech, Aoun called Hezbollah’s supporters an “essential pillar” of society.
“For the thousandth time, I assure you that my concern in having a (state) weapons monopoly comes from my concern to defend Lebanon’s sovereignty and borders, to liberate the occupied Lebanese territories and build a state that welcomes all its citizens,” he said.