Hezbollah fighters during the funeral of "Abou Taleb," a commander of the militia, in the southern suburbs of Beirut in June 2024. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L'Orient Today.)
BEIRUT — Hezbollah political council vice president Mahmoud Qomati on Monday warned that disarming the group “won’t happen without bloodshed,” accusing the Lebanese government of having “sold out the homeland” with its recent decision to disarm Hezbollah by the end of 2025.
After a meeting with the secretary-general of the Communist Party, Hanna Gharib, Qomati declared that "the Lebanese government will not be able to remove the weapons of the resistance, because it would be impossible without shedding blood, in the face of the external enemy," meaning Israel.
On Aug. 5, the Cabinet instructed the Lebanese Army to prepare by the end of August a plan to restore the monopoly of arms, with implementation expected by the end of the year.
On Aug. 7, the government adopted a proposal from U.S. envoy Tom Barrack consisting of 11 articles. It focuses primarily on ending the armed presence of all non-state factions in Lebanon and securing Israel’s withdrawal from five positions it occupies in the south.
Call to 'correct course'
"The resistance is neither isolated nor besieged, but is part of a broad national front," added Qomati, adding that the Nawaf Salam government "sold out the homeland and handed a bad check to the foreign powers," as the international community, led by the U.S., pushes for Hezbollah's disarmament.
The cabinet "will not be able to achieve what it wants," insisted the former minister of state for parliamentary affairs, warning that "all the Lebanese people will oppose the government if it tries to implement its decision."
"The resistance was born from occupation, while the state was not able to protect citizens and deter aggression," recalled Qomati, calling on the government, "despite its failure," to "correct course and avoid decisions that harm Lebanon."
The vice president of Hezbollah's political council is not new to strongly criticizing the government's decision to remove Hezbollah's weapons. On Friday night, he said in an interview on Al-Jazeera that the cabinet's decision "will not lead to escalation or confrontation" internally in Lebanon, but that it constituted a "humiliation."
"We are studying our options regarding whether or not to remain in the government" He noted that three ministers from the Hezbollah-Amal coalition — walked out when the government began discussing the American proposal.
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