Supporters of Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of Beirut. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient Today.)
BEIRUT — Hezbollah spokesperson Youssef Zein told L'Orient Today on Tuesday that the party's two ministers will attend this afternoon’s Cabinet session at Baabda Presidential Palace, which will debate Hezbollah’s disarmament.
Hezbollah "is working to preserve Lebanon’s interests. It is therefore willing to discuss the issue of its weapons within the limits of the inauguration speech of President Joseph Aoun and the ministerial statement of the Salam Cabinet," Zein stressed.
However, he indicated that "any decision [by the Cabinet] that exceeds these two limits would lead to a reaction from Hezbollah's ministers," emphasizing that this could range from verbally opposing the Cabinet decision to withdrawing from the ministerial session.
Zein ruled out the possibility of Hezbollah ministers leaving the government altogether.
Nawaf Salam’s government is expected to meet Tuesday afternoon at the Baabda Palace to discuss surrendering Hezbollah's arsenal. The party does not reject, in principle, the debate over the state's exclusive control of arms, but it makes any disarmament conditional on the prior withdrawal of the Israeli army from south Lebanon, the cessation of cease-fire violations, the release of prisoners, and the initiation of reconstruction efforts following the recent war.
In a video published Monday night, Hezbollah stated that resistance was "the only choice and support for the Lebanese Army." Political contacts continued into Monday night in order to reach a formula that the government could adopt on Tuesday.
Protesting against the Cabinet meeting, Hezbollah supporters staged motorcycle rallies Monday night in several districts of Beirut’s southern suburbs. Videos posted on social media show dozens of motorcyclists waving the party’s yellow flags as they rode through areas of the southern suburbs, chanting “Labayka Nasrallah” (at your command, Nasrallah), referring to the former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, assassinated in an Israeli strike on Sept.27, 2024.
Several political figures also reiterated calls Tuesday for Hezbollah's disarmament.
