Disarmament rift deepens between Lebanese gov’t, Hezbollah

BEIRUT

TOPSHOT - People inspect the damage at the site of an overnight Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese village of Deir Seryan, in the Nabatieh district, on August 7, 2025. Israeli strikes in south Lebanon killed two people on August 6, according to the Lebanese health ministry. (Photo by MAHMOUD ZAYYAT / AFP)

A rift over disarmament has deepened between Lebanon’s government and Hezbollah, as the militant group said that it would treat the government decision to disarm it "as if it did not exist,” accusing the cabinet of committing a "grave sin.”

Amid heavy U.S. pressure and fears Israel could expand its strikes on Lebanon, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Aug. 5 that the government had tasked the army with developing a plan to restrict weapons to government forces by year end.

The plan is to be presented to the government by the end of August for discussion and approval and another cabinet meeting has been scheduled for Aug. 7 to continue the talks, including on a U.S.-proposed timetable for disarmament.

Hezbollah said the government had "committed a grave sin by taking the decision to disarm Lebanon of its weapons to resist the Israeli enemy.”

The decision on the thorny issue is unprecedented since Lebanon's civil war factions gave up their weapons three and a half decades ago.

"This decision undermines Lebanon's sovereignty and gives Israel a free hand to tamper with its security, geography, politics and future existence... Therefore, we will treat this decision as if it does not exist," the Iran-backed group said in a statement.

Iran, Hezbollah's military and financial backer, said that any decision on disarmament "will ultimately rest with Hezbollah itself.”

"We support it from afar, but we do not intervene in its decisions," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi added, saying the group had "rebuilt itself" after the war with Israel.