Qassem says Hezbollah won't hand over arms while Israeli troops remain in South

Hezbollah "will not let anyone disarm" it, its chief Sheikh Naim Qassem said Friday evening, as Washington presses Beirut to compel the Iran-backed group to hand over its weapons.

Hezbollah, long a dominant force in Lebanese politics, was left weakened by more than a year of hostilities with Israel sparked by the Gaza war, including an Israeli ground incursion and two months of heavy bombardment that decimated the group's leadership.

The fighting was largely brought to an end by a November ceasefire, but not before the group's longtime leader and Qassem's predecessor Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli air strike.

"We will not let anyone disarm Hezbollah or disarm the resistance" against Israel, Qassem said. "These weapons gave life and freedom to our people," he added.

"We must cut this idea of disarmament from the dictionary."

President Joseph Aoun said this week that he wanted "to make 2025 the year of restricting arms to the state," adding he hoped to achieve that objective through "dialogue" with Hezbollah.

Qassem said his group was ready for dialogue on a "defense strategy", "but not under the pressure of occupation" by Israel.

"Israel must withdraw (from south Lebanon) and cease its aggression, and the Lebanese state must begin the process of reconstruction," he added.

"Does anyone expect us to discuss a national defense strategy as warplanes fly over our heads and there is occupation in south Lebanon," Qassem asked. "These are not discussions. This is surrender. Let Israel withdraw first and stop its flights in the air."

His comments came hours after another Hezbollah official said the group refused to discuss handing over its weapons until Israel withdrew completely from south Lebanon.

"It is not a question of disarming," Wafiq Safa said in an interview with Hezbollah's al-Nour radio station.

Safa, believed by experts to belong to the group's most radical faction, said Hezbollah had conveyed its position to Aoun.

In his interview, Safa asked: "Wouldn't it be logical for Israel to first withdraw, then release the prisoners, then cease its aggression... and then we discuss a defensive strategy?

"The defensive strategy is about thinking about how to protect Lebanon, not preparing for the party to hand over its weapons."

Analysts have said that the once unthinkable idea of Hezbollah disarming may no longer be so, and may even be inevitable.

- 'Problem is Israel' -

Under the November ceasefire, Israel was meant to withdraw all of its forces from south Lebanon.

But despite the deal, its troops have remained at five south Lebanon positions that they deem "strategic".

Israel has also continued to carry out near-daily strikes against Lebanon -- including on Friday -- saying it is targeting members of Hezbollah.

Under the truce, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of Lebanon's Litani River and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.

Lebanon's army has been deploying in the south as Israeli forces pulled back.

Hezbollah says the ceasefire does not apply to the rest of Lebanon, despite being based on U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for the disarmament of non-state groups.

Hezbollah was the only group to keep its weapons after Lebanon's 15-year civil war ended in 1990, saying that they were for "resistance" against Israel, which continued to occupy the south until 2000.

U.S. special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus, who visited Beirut this month, said Washington continued to press Beirut "to fully fulfil the cessation of hostilities, and that includes disarming Hezbollah and all militias."

In his remarks on Friday, Qassem said Hezbollah rejected "American control over Lebanon."

Safa said that both Hezbollah and the Lebanese Army were respecting the terms of the truce.

"The problem is Israel, which has not done so," he said.

On Saturday, a source close to Hezbollah told AFP that the group had ceded to the Lebanese army around 190 of its 265 military positions south of the Litani.