Hezbollah lawmaker says it’s ready to hash out ‘defense strategy’ with Lebanese state
Hassan Fadlallah demands end to Israeli ‘aggressions,’ denies smuggling arms via Beirut port, after terror group officials claim they may agree to discuss disarming
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said Thursday that the Iran-backed terror group was ready to enter talks with Lebanon’s government on a “defense strategy” to address Israeli “aggressions” and remove the IDF from areas it still holds in southern Lebanon, following the war that ended in November.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun was set to hold talks with Hezbollah about the terror group’s extensive arsenal, three Lebanese political sources told Reuters. The US-backed former army chief, whose election in January ended a two-year impasse, has vowed to seek a state monopoly on arms.
A senior Hezbollah official had told Reuters on Wednesday that the terror group was prepared to engage in talks with Aoun about its weapons if Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon and halted its military strikes. Under the November 27 Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire agreement, Israel is entitled to strike what it deems imminent threats and ceasefire violations by the terror group, and has done so repeatedly.
In February, the IDF withdrew from all but five strategic posts near the border in south Lebanon, which Aoun has called on it to vacate. Israel says those five strategic points are necessary to maintain security along the border.
Fadlallah, the Hezbollah lawmaker, said in a televised speech Thursday that “we have expressed our readiness for dialogue to find a defense strategy for Lebanon.”
He said any meaningful discussions should focus on confronting Israeli “aggressions” and removing Israeli forces from southern Lebanon.
“We are in constant contact with President Aoun. When he calls for dialogue and sets national foundations for it, we are ready,” he added.
Fadlallah also denied a Tuesday report from Saudi news outlet Al-Hadath that Hezbollah was reasserting control over Beirut’s seaport to smuggle weapons.
The port was largely destroyed in 2020, when ammonium nitrate stored at the site caught fire, causing a gargantuan blast that killed hundreds and caused damage across the Lebanese capital. Attempts to investigate Hezbollah’s role in storing the explosives at the civilian site have been repeatedly stymied by politicians and other figures connected to the Iran-backed terror group.
Hezbollah’s arsenal has long been contested in Lebanon’s domestic politics. The terror group argues that its weapons are necessary to deter Israeli threats.
On Wednesday, the IDF accused Hezbollah of working to rebuild a weapons production site in Beirut’s southern Dahiyeh suburb, a stronghold of the terror group, saying this was in violation of the ceasefire deal.
During the war, the IDF frequently struck the Dahiyeh, including in the massive strike that killed longtime Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah in September. Hezbollah also lost a vital ally in December when rebels toppled the regime of Syria’s Iran-backed President Bashar Al-Assad.
The Times of Israel Community.