Hezbollah fighters during the funeral of "Abou Taleb," a militia commander, in the southern suburbs of Beirut in June 2024. (Credit: Matthieu Karam.)
Hezbollah is "not in an internal Lebanese confrontation," said Mahmoud Qomati, the group's political council vice president, following leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s warning of resistance if the army moves to disarm it.
"Qassem warned against sedition and considered that the decision to hand over the weapons is a factor that leads to it," Qomati emphasized on al-Jazeera. "The secretary-general of Hezbollah did not threaten, but said that we are ready, if we are forced to, to wage a Karbala-like battle" (of 680 AD, when Imam Hussein and his men were killed, Ed.), he added, stressing that "the resistance constitutes a primary line of defense for Arab national security and must be understood on this basis."
"We are not in an internal Lebanese confrontation, and the resistance's weapons cannot be given up during a time of occupation," he further asserted. He also indicated that "the secretary-general's position is not new," recalling that Qassem had already emphasized "the importance of the defensive strategy and that we will not hand over our weapons."
Hezbollah's vehement statements drew on Friday many scathing responses within the Lebanese political class.
In this context, L'Orient Today has learned that France hosted a Franco-American political, diplomatic and military meeting Thursday to support Lebanon and its army.
Humanitarian convoy reaches Rmeish, Ain Ibl, Dibil despite obstacles
