Hezbollah on Wednesday dismissed a Lebanese government decision to disarm the group, saying it would treat the move “as if it did not exist” and accused the cabinet of committing a “grave sin.”
Amid heavy U.S. pressure and fears Israel could expand its strikes on Lebanon, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Tuesday that the government had tasked the army with developing a plan to restrict weapons to government forces by year's end.
The plan is to be presented to the government by the end of August for discussion and approval, and another cabinet meeting has been scheduled for Thursday to continue the talks, including on a U.S.-proposed timetable for disarmament.
Hezbollah said the government had "committed a grave sin by taking the decision to disarm Lebanon of its weapons to resist the Israeli enemy."
The decision on the thorny issue is unprecedented since Lebanon's civil war factions gave up their weapons three and a half decades ago.
