Hezollah leader Naim Qassem delivered a televised address on July 6, 2025, commemorating Ashura and addressing the American plan for his party's disarmament. (Credit: Nicholas Frakes/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — "I declare, on behalf of Hezbollah, that we are ready for either of the two choices before us," the group's leader said during a speech on Sunday. "For peace, the building of a state and cooperation in favor of development and stability, as well as for confrontation and combat."
The televised address by Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem was given on the event of Ashura, an important commemoration in Islam that, for Shiites, marks the martyrdom of Imam Hussein in the battle of Karbala. But the address was also keenly awaited by those seeking insight into how Hezbollah is going to respond to a U.S. plan presented to Lebanese authorities last month outlining the party's disarmament.
Qassem asserted that any move on Hezbollah's part must be preceded by Israel abiding by the November cease-fire agreement, "withdrawing from the occupied territories, stopping its aggression [and] releasing the prisoners" detained during last year's war. Reconstruction in Lebanon is also a prerequisite, Qassem stated.
Only then, he said, "will we be ready for the second stage, which is to discuss national security and defense strategy."
"We will not surrender nor will we compromise our rights and dignity," Qassem declared.
Tom Barrack, the U.S. envoy who delivered U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's roadmap for Hezbollah disarmament, is due back in Beirut on Monday, where he is expected to receive the Lebanese government's unified response.
Hezbollah has reportedly delayed providing its own response to the government and even to its ally, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Berri have all made clear their stance on weapons in the country, which they say should be under complete state control, thus also bringing decision on war or peace under state control as well.
According to some local media reports, Berri sent a message to Hezbollah saying: "If you do not respond, we will proceed without you."
'We are men on the ground'
"The problem is Israel and its daily violations, not the Resistance," Qassem said on Sunday. "We are facing the two phases of implementing U.N. Resolution 1701 [the basis of the cease-fire]. We are ready to complete the first phase of the cease-fire agreement before implementing the resolution comprehensively."
According to him, Hezbollah "has as much flexibility as necessary, but is not concerned with the equation of Israel and the United States that threaten assassinations and demand a surrender."
"We are committed to our rights and ready to die for them if necessary, we are men on the ground," he insisted.
A 'strong and corruption-free' state
During other Ashura commemorations in Beirut's southern suburbs, Shia cleric Ali Fadlallah addressed the issue of American and Israeli conditions for Hezbollah's disarmament. "We will not comply with the dictates imposed on us," he said during his sermon at a mosque in Haret Hreik.
"We are well aware of the imbalance of power regarding the means the [Israeli] enemy is equipped with and the support it receives, but that does not oblige us to back down and accept the status quo, we remain committed to our engagement with the Prophet and Hussein."
"If the present is not in our favor, the future is not closed either, and time will prove us right against the tyrants."
Fadlallah also addressed the issue of reforms, expressing support for "a strong, corruption-free state working in the interest of its sons without distinction and based on competence." He advocated for "more national unity" and more bridges between Arab and Islamic countries.
