The statement issued by Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Wednesday "constitutes a flagrant departure from the collective national will, a further persistence in imposing a fait accompli, and a continuation of adventures that have brought Lebanon nothing but destruction, displacement and collapse,” a senior political source said.
In remarks to the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper, the source accused Qassem of insisting on “placing decisions of war and peace, as well as the conditions of national sovereignty, outside state institutions and the will of the Lebanese people, as if the country were the property of a single faction deciding its fate and the future of its citizens."
The source added that "Qassem speaks of national unity while imposing preconditions on others, demanding that they confirm their convictions according to the party's constants, rather than in accordance with the Constitution and the principle of equal national partnership."
The source questioned "what unity the party speaks of while refusing to subject its weaponry and military strategy to the decision of the state, declaring in advance that discussing the surrender of weapons is off the table -- a stance that destroys the essence of any serious national dialogue regarding the state's monopoly on arms and the authority of legitimate institutions."
He added that "the attempt to present the continuation of armed resistance as Lebanon's sole option is nothing short of confiscating the Lebanese people's right to self-determination, and a deliberate disregard for the immense cost the country has paid as a result of decisions that lacked national consensus.”
“Meanwhile, southerners, the displaced, and owners of destroyed homes are still waiting for safety, reconstruction, and the restoration of their normal lives," the senior source stated, stressing that "protecting Lebanon does not come by repeating the experiences that dragged it into wars, nor by turning the sacrifices of the Lebanese into an open authorization to pursue the same path.”
“Rather, it is achieved by restoring respect for the state, its institutions, and its army, as the sole authority capable of protecting sovereignty and safeguarding the interests of all Lebanese," the source noted.
Qassem said Wednesday that "the resistance will continue... and will stand up to the aggression directed against it and against Lebanon,” stressing that there is no room to discuss disarmament "as long as the occupation persists and its aggression continues."
The group, which once dominated political life in Lebanon, has been weakened by two wars it waged against Israel since 2023.
In June, Lebanese and Israeli authorities signed a framework agreement which involves the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from occupied territory, and the deployment of the Lebanese Army to the area.
But Israel continues to carry out sporadic strikes and demolitions in and around the territory it occupies, while Hezbollah refuses to submit to government plans to disarm it.
