Hezbollah Rejects Disarmament, Warns of 'Internal Sedition'

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Hezbollah's Secretary-General, Sheikh Naim Qassem, has issued a defiant rejection of the Lebanese government's recent decision to confine all weapons to state hands, warning that the move violates national coexistence and risks plunging the country into a "very major crisis."

In a speech commemorating the Arbaeen of Imam Hussein, Qassem declared that the resistance "will not surrender its weapons" and is prepared to fight a "Karbala-like battle if necessary," placing full responsibility for any potential internal conflict squarely on the government in Beirut.

According to a report from pro-Hezbollah  Al Mayadeen, the Hezbollah leader's forceful remarks were a direct response to a government decision made on August 5. 

On that date, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced that the Lebanese Army had been tasked with developing a plan to "confine weapons to the hands of the state" by the end of the year, with a draft to be submitted by August 31.

Sheikh Qassem characterized this move as a "dangerous decision" that "strips Lebanon of its defensive weapons during an aggression and facilitates the killing of resistance fighters and their families."

In his speech, delivered in Baalbek, Sheikh Qassem accused the government of acting on behalf of foreign powers, stating that it "is implementing the American-Israeli order to end the resistance, even if it leads to civil war and internal sedition."

He further contended, "This government is serving the Israeli project, whether it knows it or not."

Addressing the state directly, he added, "If you feel incapable, leave the enemy to face us, and just as Israel's repeated wars have failed, it will fail this time." He held the Lebanese government "fully responsible for any internal sedition and for abandoning its duty to defend the land of Lebanon," as reported by Al Mayadeen.

A central theme of Sheikh Qassem's address was an appeal to the Lebanese Army, a respected national institution. He specifically demanded that "the army not be dragged into internal sedition, for its record is pristine and its leadership does not want to enter this path."

This warning sought to separate the military from the political leadership, framing any potential confrontation as a political dispute rather than a national security imperative. He also issued a stark ultimatum on the future of the nation, stating, "Let us be together in building the country, for the country is not built by one component without another. We either live in dignity together, or there is no life for Lebanon if you are going to stand on the other side."

Sheikh Qassem asserted that Hezbollah's legitimacy does not come from the state but from its actions and sacrifices.

"The resistance took its legitimacy from the blood of the martyrs, and it does not need it from you," he declared. He credited the resistance with deterring Israel for 17 years since the 2006 July War and argued that true Lebanese sovereignty is impossible unless "it is accompanied by the resistance that liberated the land."

He also explicitly thanked the Islamic Republic of Iran "for its support for the resistance with money, weapons, and political stances, and for offering martyrs." Concluding his remarks on the regional situation, he stressed that "Palestine will remain the compass, and genocide will not deter the Palestinian people from continuing the resistance."