Hasbani accuses Naim Qassem of trying to 'buy time' on Hezbollah disarmament

Lebanese Forces (LF) MP and former minister Ghassan Hasbani said that keeping Hezbollah’s weapons has "become an end in itself," as the party uses them as a means to increase its influence and control within the country. In an interview with Sawt Kel Lebnen (Voice of All Lebanon) published by the National News Agency (NNA), he also accused the group of using its weapons to "buy time."

Hasbani, whose party is one of Hezbollah’s main political rivals, was responding to comments made on Saturday by the party’s secretary-general, Naim Qassem, where he repeated that the group would not hand over its weapons to the Lebanese Army and was prepared to confront Israel.

"Its priority is no longer fighting Israel or the withdrawal of its forces. This logic goes against that of the state and is not an extension of it, contrary to what they claim," Hasbani said, before going further: "Why should we all take into account the circumstances of one section of the population presented as ‘victims,’ as if the rest of the Lebanese were not themselves wounded?"

"Instead of saying it wants to integrate into the Lebanese state, play the democratic game, and support the state’s monopoly on arms, Hezbollah is raising its tone by asserting that it absolutely refuses to abandon its weapons," he added.

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"If Hezbollah continues on this path, we risk becoming mere spectators of our future and not actors in it. If it persists in keeping its weapons, we are facing a suicide ordered by Iran. Any escalation of underground forces will harm all Lebanese, but especially Hezbollah’s own base," he added.

According to Hasbani, Qassem knows there will be no reconstruction without disarmament and reforms, but says he is buying time. The MP also believes that "parliament speaker Nabih Berry appears to play a positive role, but in fact, his role is negative because he [helps maintain Hezbollah’s weapons]. If his intentions were sincere, he would help enforce the state’s monopoly on arms."

Asked about upcoming decisions, he said: "We are waiting for the army’s first report on what was decided at the August 5 government session ... we need to see how the military and security forces implement the decisions on the ground. Expanding the state’s authority and bringing all weapons under its control is not a provocation: Hezbollah’s opposition to this means it rejects the very existence of the state," he said.

The disarmament of Hezbollah has been the subject of international pressure, decisions made by the Lebanese government in August, and a plan by the Lebanese Army presented on September 5. It is also part of a cease-fire agreement from November 2024 that ended the last war between Hezbollah and Israel, but the party continues to reject any prospect of handing over its weapons, citing Israeli violations of the cease-fire agreed to at the end of last November.

This argument is also used by BerrI to criticize the government’s approach regarding restoring the monopoly on weapons.