Despite US pressure, Hezbollah has rejected calls for its disarmament, saying that to do so would be ‘serving the Israeli project’.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has reiterated calls for Hezbollah to hand over its weapons to the army, a move rejected by the group despite growing pressure from Israel’s main ally, the United States.
In a televised speech on Thursday at the Defence Ministry’s headquarters, Aoun said authorities were demanding “the extension of the Lebanese state’s authority over all its territory, the removal of weapons from all armed groups, including Hezbollah and their handover to the Lebanese army”.
He added it was every party’s duty “to seize this historic opportunity and push without hesitation towards affirming the army and security forces’ monopoly on weapons over all Lebanese territory … in order to regain the world’s confidence”.
Aoun’s comments came a day after Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem dismissed calls for the group’s disarmament, saying that “anyone calling today for the surrender of weapons, whether internally or externally, on the Arab or the international stage, is serving the Israeli project”.
