Hezbollah supporters during a motorcade in the southern suburbs of Beirut, on Aug.7, 2025. (Credit: Ibrahim Amro/AFP.)
BEIRUT — Several convoys of a few dozen mopeds each traveled through the southern suburbs of Beirut on Saturday night to protest the government’s decision to disarm Hezbollah, as well as other armed groups in Lebanon, by the end of the year.
This decision, made in two stages by the government of Nawaf Salam on Tuesday and Thursday, sparked sharp reactions throughout the week from representatives and supporters of Amal and Hezbollah, as well as outbreaks of anger in various regions across the country.
On Saturday night, the convoys appeared more scattered in the South and the Bekaa, while in the southern suburbs, at the call of a group notably calling itself “the youth of the southern suburbs” of Beirut, groups of several dozen young supporters riding mopeds were seen in different areas, including the so-called “Sainte Therese” neighborhood and the airport road.
As in recent days, some supporters, some waving Hezbollah flags or, more rarely, flags of the Amal movement, chanted slogans in support of the militia party, according to videos posted on social media. Some went as far as the coastal road alongside the Pigeon Rocks site.
The night before, larger convoys had also been organized, and seven protesters were arrested, according to a military source contacted by L’Orient Today. The Lebanese Army indicated it respected freedom of expression but rejected any breach of civil peace or road closures.
The Nawaf Salam government announced Tuesday it had tasked the army with preparing a plan to implement the disarmament of militias, including Hezbollah, before the end of the year, while on Thursday, the cabinet approved the “objectives” defined in the roadmap proposed by American envoy Tom Barrack to ensure proper implementation of the cease-fire agreement.
This agreement came into force on Nov. 27, 2024, after 13 months of war between Hezbollah and Israel, but is violated almost daily by the Israeli state, which continues to occupy five positions in southern Lebanon and to attack several regions of the country, while Tel Aviv accuses Hezbollah of wanting to rebuild its infrastructure south of the Litani.
The “Barrack plan” provides for the disarmament of Hezbollah and other armed groups by the end of the year, as well as a series of other measures, such as implementing reforms, supporting the Lebanese army and delimiting borders with Syria and Israel.
