Hezbollah Chief Threatens ‘No Life In Lebanon’ If Government Moves To Disarm It

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has warned that if the Lebanese government moves to disarm Hezbollah, which is the large Shia militia group backed by Iran, then the whole country will suffer destabilization, death, and destruction.

He claimed that there would be “no life in Lebanon” should its weapons be taken by force – which brings to mind the mass death and destruction the country experienced during the prior two-decade long Lebanese civil war of the end of the 20th century.

The United States has long exerted immense pressure on the Lebanese government of President Joseph Aoun to take away Hezbollah’s weapons. These pressures have amplified in the wake of the recent Israel-Lebanon war, which subsided due to a fragile truce.

This is why Qassem has accused the Lebanese government of in essence “implementing an American-Israeli order to end the resistance, even if it leads to civil war and internal strife.”

“The resistance will not surrender its weapons while aggression continues, occupation persists, and we will fight it… if necessary to confront this American-Israeli project no matter the cost,” he continued, warning the government “not to hand over the country to an insatiable Israeli aggressor or an American tyrant with limitless greed.”

Without doubt, Hezbollah has been immensely weakened since last year’s assassination of longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah – and the killings of many other top and mid-level leaders.

Hezbollah’s abiding by the ceasefire with Israel is a reflection of this. However, the last year has seen sporadic airstrikes on southern Lebanon by Israel. The fall of Assad in Syria last December has also greatly weakened Hezbollah.

Still, the group remains the single most well-armed and militarily powerful entity in the Lebanese state. It is actually stronger that the Lebanese Army. 

So if there is a big move to disarm Hezbollah, there’s a likelihood that indeed the whole state would unravel – also at a moment the country has been experience economic collapse, and destruction due to recent Israeli bombings.

The general view among regional analysts is that Hezbollah, representing the ‘Shia axis’, has ultimately lost at this point. This is also underscored in the fact that the Israeli army is now occupying large swathes of southern Syria – perhaps less than a dozen miles from the outskirts of Damascus.