Lebanese Cabinet Backs Down; Hezbollah Disarmament Remains Only on Paper

DID Press: Unprecedented meeting of Lebanon’s cabinet on the sensitive issue of Hezbollah’s weapons—contrary to Western expectations and those of some domestic factions—ended without any executive decision.

The session, held Tuesday evening under U.S. pressure and within the framework of a proposed plan to trade disarmament for Lebanon’s reconstruction, concluded only with a general statement affirming that weapons should be monopolized by the state—a statement that, in practice, brings no change to the current situation.

Factions aligned with Christian parties such as the Kataeb and the Lebanese Forces had supported approving a timetable for disarming the resistance. In contrast, Hezbollah, through both political and field maneuvers—including a speech by its deputy secretary-general, Sheikh Naiem Qassem—warned that such decisions will be a threat to Lebanon’s national security.

In response to the disarmament proposal, Sheikh Naiem Qassem underlined that the main problem is Israeli aggression, not the weapons of the resistance. He said explicitly that Israel’s security would be destroyed within an hour should it launch a new attack. He described the U.S. plan as a dictate aimed at stripping Lebanon of its power, declaring that Hezbollah will not give up any of its weapons.

Ultimately, the cabinet’s cautious stance showed that even under foreign pressure, the disarmament of Hezbollah will, for now, remain only on paper.

Thus, not only did the resistance preserve its legitimacy, it also remained an inseparable part of Lebanon’s security balance.