The Hezbollah organization insists it won’t give up its weapons as the Lebanoni government’s government nears its disarmament deadline.
In accordance with a strategy put forth by the US, the Lebanese cabinet assigned the military in August to come up with a plan to remove Hezbollah’s weapons by the end of 2025.
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Hezbollah quickly rebuffed the decree, calling it a “grave sin” and promising to treat it “as if it does not exist.”
The Lebanese military adopted a gradual disarmament plan in September, starting with the south of the nation, moving up to the Litani River, 28 kilometers (17 miles) from the Israeli border, moving northward to Beirut, where it became the country’s capital, and then spreading all over the country.
The first stage’s completion date is set for Thursday. However, a rebellious Hezbollah has refuted Israel’s claims that the US-Israeli plan was needed at a time when Israel is airstricken Lebanon every day.
Hezbollah’s head Naim Qassem said this week, “To demand exclusive arms control while Israel is committing aggression and America is imposing its will on Lebanon, stripping it of its power, means that you are not working in Lebanon’s interests but rather in the interests of what Israel wants,”
Israeli strikes are imminent.
Israeli attacks on Lebanon have not relented, despite the state’s ongoing debate over the state’s exclusive control over weapons.
According to the official National News Agency, Israeli forces bombed several southern Lebanoni villages on Wednesday and blew up the last undamaged home in Marwahin.
Israeli strikes are imminent. have not been confined to south of the Litani River. In November, Israel bombed Beirut and killed Hezbollah’s top commander, Haytham Tabtabai.
A Lebanese army officer was among the three fatalities in the coastal city of Sidon, north of the Litani, last week when an Israeli bomb went off.
Israel continues to occupy five locations in Lebanon despite air strikes and near-constant airstrikes against Lebanon with surveillance drones, whose buzz is frequently audible there.
Israel has regularly launched attacks against the construction industry in southern Lebanon, preventing the reconstruction of the villages it all but destroyed in the war of the year.
Hezbollah claims that its members will discuss developing a national defense plan for Lebanon that includes the group’s weapons when Israel stops its attacks.
The arguments
Hezbollah’s supporters claim that its weapons only serve as a means of further strike without meaningful defense because the organization hasn’t been able to deter Israeli attacks.
Additionally, they contend that a separate, independent military force that is not accountable to the government shouldn’t be able to make war and peace decisions for the entire multireligious nation.
Hezbollah’s relationship with Iran is also under the spotlight thanks to accusations that the organization supports Tehran’s “axis of resistance” rather than advancing Lebanon’s interests.
Hezbollah claims that without its help, Israel could occupy and establish settlements in southern Lebanon because the Lebanese military was ineffective in fighting.
The Lebanese army receives the most weapons from the United States, which is Israel’s closest ally. US special envoy Tom Barrack acknowledged in September that Washington opposes Israel’s armed forces.
We don’t want them to be armed, so they can fight Israel, the statement read. Barrack said, “I don’t believe so.” You’re therefore providing them with weapons to fight Hezbollah’s own people. Our adversary is Hezbollah. Our adversary is Iran.
Hezbollah refers to Syria, where Israeli forces have been systematically expanding their occupation beyond the Golan Heights without any cause, and describes Israel as an expansionist force that doesn’t need an excuse to attack Lebanon.
Supporters of Hezbollah point to the state’s neglect of Lebanon by Israel as early as 1948, well before the organization was established in 1982.
The past
Hezbollah evolved from a ragtag militia to a regional force over the years thanks to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the Lebanese Civil War.
In what was regarded as a rare military victory for an Arab side in the history of the conflict, it forced Israel to leave southern Lebanon in 2000 using guerrilla warfare tactics.
The group’s dissolution or disarmament was then thwarted by Israel in a comprehensive war in 2006, which ended in a deadlock.
Hezbollah helped the former Syrian president’s government seize control of the country from opposition fighters in subsequent years.
In addition, it authorized military advisers to assist ISIL (ISIL)-backed organizations in Iraq.
Hezbollah has had a significant influence on the Lebanese government since 2006, managed to keep its allies’ parliamentary majority, and elevated members of the organization to important positions.
But Hezbollah’s entire system crashed last year. Following the start of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, the organization established a “support front” to support Hamas.
The Lebanon-Israel border region was largely the site of the violence for months. However, Israel launched a devastating offensive against Hezbollah across the nation in September 2024.
Hassan Nasrallah, one of the group’s most prominent political and military leaders, was killed by Israeli forces after his death in the 2000 and 2006 war. He was also recognized as a leader of Hezbollah’s followers.
Israel also forced long-term depopulation of the area, which some analysts compared to ethnic cleansing, through its systematic destruction of border towns during the conflict.
Millions of people were forced to live elsewhere after the war, many of whom sought refuge in schools and other public buildings for more than two months.
With the exception of one attack on an Israeli position in December 2024, the conflict came to an end with a ceasefire that Israel and Hezbollah followed.
The dangers
Hezbollah – beleaguered, bleeding domestic allies and facing a de facto unilateral ceasefire and continuing Israeli strikes are imminent. – now finds itself at a crossroads.
According to Lebanonese officials, the army is moving closer to completing the disarmament plan’s first phase. Hezbollah claims it won’t give up its weapons or the fight against Israeli rule, though.
The nation is surrounded by the threat of a new Israeli war, though. When questioned about the conflict on Monday, US President Donald Trump replied that he had no idea whether it would ever get worse.
In a joint press conference in Florida with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said, “We’ll see about it.”
“Hezbollah and the Lebanese government are a little bit at odds with one another,” he writes. We’ll see what happens because Hezbollah has been acting badly.
Civil war might result from Hezbollah’s attempts to disarm it internally in Lebanon. Hezbollah still has a lot of fighters and a significant arsenal despite the Israeli attacks.
Lebanon would suffer a catastrophic state-state clash with Hezbollah. Officers and military commanders who may support Hezbollah might also choose to “fight their own people” in a conflict within the organization.
Source: Aljazeera
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