BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanon’s leading Christian party on Sunday urged Hezbollah to hand its weapons to the state, as the army prepares to implement a disarmament plan.

The Iran-backed group has been severely weakened by a year-long conflict with Israel, including two months of open war, that destroyed part of its arsenal and decimated its leadership.

Under pressure from the United States, the Lebanese government in August ordered the military to prepare a plan to disarm the group by the year’s end.

Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces party and parliament’s main Christian bloc, said Hezbollah’s weapons had “no impact” against Israel and only brought “destruction, ruin, displacement and invited new occupation.”

“The shortest path to ending Israeli occupation and aggression, my brothers, is building a real state… and there can be no true state as long as illegal weapons remain,” he added, calling for “all weapons to return to the Lebanese state.”

“Your war with Israel was lost and destructive… a civil war would be even more disastrous and could cause you to lose everything.”

Hezbollah, the only faction to keep its weapons after Lebanon’s 1975–1990 civil war, has rejected disarmament, accusing authorities of serving Israel and the United States.

“It’s still possible to break this cycle and avoid further losses by making the courageous choice to move from illegality to legitimacy,” Geagea said, accusing Hezbollah of serving “an Iranian expansionist project.”

On Saturday, Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Ezzedine said the group would “not abandon [its weapons] under any circumstances or pretext at all,” the state-run National News Agency reported.

He made the comments after Hezbollah and its allies snubbed a cabinet meeting on Friday which welcomed the army plan to disarm the group.

Speaking after the meeting, Information Minister Paul Morcos said the army would begin implementing the plan “in accordance with the available capabilities.”

He said the army commander had warned of “constraints” on the plan’s implementation, particularly “Israeli attacks,” and gave no timeframe for the operation. A government statement conditioned progress on “the commitment of other parties, foremost Israel.”