Lebanon’s leading Christian party has called on Hezbollah to surrender its weapons to the state, as the Lebanese Armed Forces prepare to implement a government-mandated disarmament plan by year’s end, AFP reported on Sunday.
Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces and the largest Christian bloc in parliament, delivered a scathing rebuke of Hezbollah’s military role, declaring that its arsenal had “no impact” against Israel and instead brought “destruction, ruin, displacement and invited new occupation.”
“The shortest path to ending Israeli occupation and aggression, my brothers, is building a real state... and there can be no true state as long as illegal weapons remain,” Geagea said, urging that “all weapons return to the Lebanese state.”
Geagea warned that Hezbollah’s continued defiance could plunge Lebanon into civil war. “Your war with Israel was lost and destructive... a civil war would be even more disastrous and could cause you to lose everything.”
He concluded with a final appeal: “It’s still possible to break this cycle and avoid further losses by making the courageous choice to move from illegality to legitimacy,” accusing Hezbollah of serving “an Iranian expansionist project.”
The Iran-backed terror group has suffered significant losses over the past year in its conflict with Israel. Two months of open warfare decimated Hezbollah’s leadership and destroyed part of its arsenal.
Lebanon’s cabinet recently tasked the army with formulating a plan for disarming Hezbollah by the end of 2025.
On Friday, the Lebanese cabinet welcomed a military proposal to disarm Hezbollah, though no formal vote was held and no timeline was set for implementation.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem condemned the Lebanese government's plan to disarm the terror organization and vowed that Hezbollah would keep its arms.