In message to Hezbollah, new Lebanese leader vows to ensure state has monopoly on power

Lebanon’s newly elected President Joseph Aoun tells lawmakers he will work to ensure the state has the exclusive right to carry arms, in his first speech at parliament after he was elected.

His comments are seen partly as a reference to the Hezbollah terror group’s arsenal, which he had not commented on publicly as the former army commander.

According to Reuters, lawmakers burst into the longest applause of the speech after Aoun’s statement, while Hezbollah parliamentarians remained still.

Before Israel dealt it a series of setbacks in recent months, the Iran-backed Hezbollah over the years amassed far greater powers than the Lebanese army and took over southern Lebanon in violation of a UN Security Council resolution.

He also vows to end the Israeli presence in southern Lebanon from which the IDF is slated to finish withdrawing at the end of the month.

“I pledge to oversee the activation of security agencies and to discuss a strategic defense policy that enables the state to remove Israeli occupation from all territories,” Aoun says.