Hezbollah warns Lebanese state against expanding disarmament push

A senior Hezbollah official has warned Lebanon’s government that pressing on with efforts to disarm the group throughout the country would trigger chaos and possibly civil war, according to comments circulated by the armed group.

Lebanon has pledged to bring all arms in the country under state control, in line with a 2024 agreement that ended a devastating war between Hezbollah and Israel.

Hezbollah insists that deal only applies to the southernmost region of Lebanon that borders Israel and has refused to relinquish its arsenal elsewhere.

In an interview with Russian state media outlet RT, senior Hezbollah political official Mahmoud Qmati says pursuing a state monopoly on arms further north would be “the biggest crime committed by the state.”

“The path taken by the Lebanese government and state institutions will lead Lebanon to instability, chaos and perhaps even civil war,” Qmati says, though he adds that Hezbollah will not be dragged into a confrontation with Lebanon’s army.

The Lebanese army said last week that it had taken operational control in the area between the Litani River and Israel’s border. The Lebanese cabinet has asked the army to brief it in early February on how it would pursue disarmament in other parts of the country.