Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam speaks during a declaration press event held along with French President Emmanuel Macron (not pictured) following their meeting at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris, France, April 21, 2026. (Credit: Ludovic Marin/Reuters)
BEIRUT — Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Monday that “the decision on the monopoly of arms (in the hands of the state),” as well as the more specific move to declare Beirut a “weapons-free city” on April 9, are part of an “irreversible process,” during a press conference broadcast by the state-run National News Agency (NNA). He nevertheless stressed that these government decisions “do not happen overnight” and are being implemented according to the Lebanese state’s “capacities.”
Salam made the remarks following a meeting of the "Central Security Council," which brings together the security services as well as Civil Defense under the auspices of the Interior Ministry. Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar welcomed Salam’s “surprise” presence at the meeting, saying it demonstrated “the importance of the Council’s work,” according to comments reported by NNA.
'No question of putting the army in confrontation' with Hezbollah
Salam said the “process” aimed at guaranteeing the state’s monopoly over arms, decided by the government on August 5 and categorically rejected by Hezbollah, could “require weeks, even months.”
“Our decisions are being implemented and it is necessary to enforce them with determination,” he said, while acknowledging that he “wished they could be carried out more quickly.”
The prime minister also stressed that there was “no question of putting the army in confrontation with any Lebanese party,” in an apparent reference to Hezbollah.
Speaking about direct talks with Tel Aviv, which Hezbollah firmly opposes, he said that “negotiations have not yet started” and that the direct contacts held at ambassadorial level between the two countries were merely “preparatory meetings.” Lebanese President Joseph Aoun had indicated earlier in the day that a third meeting between the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the United States is expected to take place “in the coming days.”
“The meetings in Washington must continue until a cease-fire is achieved,” Salam insisted.
For his part, Hajjar said that “the security forces have already begun implementing on the ground” the April 9 decision, after massive Israeli strikes killed more than a hundred people in the capital, “with the aim of strengthening the state’s full control over Beirut, restricting weapons to the hands of the state, tightening the application of laws and bringing offenders to justice.”
The meeting made it possible “to monitor the stages of implementation and reinforce the state’s presence with additional measures,” the minister added.
Commenting on the firing of RPG-type rockets into the air during Sunday’s funerals in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Hajjar said that the “security forces will show no leniency in pursuing those responsible and those involved.” The army announced on Monday that it had arrested one shooter and seized weapons in connection with the incident.
