Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem reiterated on Monday the group’s stance of refusing to give up its weapons saying Israel will first have to leave Lebanon, stop its attacks, release Lebanese prisoners and allow Lebanon to start the reconstruction process in areas destroyed during the Israel-Hezbollah war.
“After that, we can discuss a national defense strategy,” Qassem said referring to what could be the future of Hezbollah’s weapons and the possibility of putting it under government control.
“We will not give up the weapons that brought us honor. We will not give up the weapons that defend us against our enemy,” he said in a televised speech. “The weapons are our souls, honor, land, dignity and the future of our children.”
In an apparent warning to the Lebanese government, Qassem said that the decision to disarm Hezbollah came according to dictation by the US and Israel, adding that “whoever wants to remove the weapons means that they want to remove our soul and at that time the world will see our strength.”
“If this government continues in its current form, it cannot be trusted to safeguard Lebanon’s sovereignty,” he added.
“Israel may occupy, but we will confront it to prevent it from settling and achieving its goals, and this confrontation will continue.”
This month, Lebanon's cabinet tasked the army with drawing up a plan to establish state control over arms by December, a challenge to Hezbollah.
Israel on Monday signaled it would scale back its military presence in southern Lebanon if the Lebanese armed forces took action to disarm Hezbollah.
The announcement from the Israeli prime minister's office came a day after Benjamin Netanyahu met with US envoy Tom Barrak, who has been heavily involved in a plan that would disarm Hezbollah and withdraw Israeli forces from Lebanon.
The Israeli military has maintained a presence in southern Lebanon near the border since agreeing to a United States-backed ceasefire with Hezbollah in November.
