Controversial meeting at Baabda Palace; Hezbollah will keep its weapons.
The Lebanese government, headed by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, in a cabinet meeting yesterday, Tuesday, has mandated the country’s army to develop an executive plan to monopolize weapons in the hands of the government and limit the weapons of armed groups, especially Hezbollah, by the end of this year (before August 31, 2025).
The decision, made in a controversial meeting at the Baabda Palace chaired by President Joseph Aoun, comes amid mounting international pressure, particularly from the United States, to disarm Hezbollah. The pressure from the United States and its allies, particularly by making financial aid conditional on disarmament, is an attempt to weaken the axis of resistance and impose foreign will on Lebanon.
The US and its allies have made Hezbollah’s disarmament a precondition for providing financial aid and reconstruction to Lebanon. According to a media report, the US has told the Lebanese government that it will not pressure Israel to withdraw from occupied areas in southern Lebanon as long as Hezbollah has weapons.
In recent meetings with Lebanese officials, US special envoy Thomas Barak has resorted to “threats and intimidation” to pressure Hezbollah to disarm, indicating that the US is trying to use economic and military leverage to impose its will on Lebanon.
According to analysts, these pressures are designed to create a “new Middle East” and weaken the axis of resistance, especially Hezbollah, which is part of the joint agenda and plans of the Israeli and US regimes in the region.
As Tel Aviv continues to violate the ceasefire and occupy southern Lebanon, Hezbollah’s disarmament is illogical from the perspective of the resistance and its supporters, and means weakening Lebanon’s defense capabilities.
Sheikh Naim Qassem, Secretary General of the Lebanese Hezbollah, firmly emphasized in his speech yesterday that the resistance is part of the Taif Agreement and that it is explicitly mentioned in it, and that a legal issue cannot be discussed through voting, but rather requires consensus.