BEIRUT, Lebanon, March 2 (UPI) -- Lebanon's government on Monday prohibited Hezbollah from all military activities, hours after the Iran-backed group fired missiles and drones into northern Israel, triggering retaliatory Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs and other areas that killed at least 31 people and wounded 149.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam reiterated after a five-hour Cabinet meeting that the decision of war and peace "rests exclusively in the hands of the Lebanese state," necessitating the immediate prohibition of all Hezbollah security and military activities as "unlawful."
Salam, whose government ordered Hezbollah's disarmament last August, said the group should hand over its remaining weapons to the Lebanese state and limit itself to political activities.
He called on all military and security agencies to take immediate action to enforce the Cabinet's decision, prevent any military operations or launching missiles or drones from Lebanese territory, and apprehend any violators.
He sharply criticized firing missiles and drones into northern Israel shortly after midnight -- a strike that Hezbollah said was "to avenge" the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and "in self‑defense" against Israel's continued aggressions on Lebanon.
