Hezbollah’s deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem forcefully rejected escalating domestic and international calls for the group to disarm, declaring in a televised address on July 30, that such demands “serve the Israeli project” and amounted to capitulating to Israel’s interests. He asserted: “Those who call for submitting arms practically demand submitting them to Israel… We will not submit to Israel” . Qassem framed the group’s arsenal as a sovereign right essential for confronting what he termed ongoing Israeli aggression, airstrikes and occupation of strategic points in southern Lebanon —which, he insisted, must cease before any discussions on weapons reduction can begin.
In remarks timed to the Ashura religious commemoration in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, Qassem argued that defense “requires no permission” and denounced pro-disarmament voices as hiding “behind the enemy” . He said discussions over Hezbollah’s weapons would only commence once Israel withdraws from occupied zones, halts air raids, releases prisoners, and allows for reconstruction —a sequence he presented as prerequisites for any phased dialogue.
His defiance comes amid intense U.S. pressure on the Lebanese government to formally commit via a cabinet decree to Hezbollah’s disarmament as a condition for resuming ceasefire negotiations. U.S. envoy Thomas Barrack has framed full disarmament as a precondition to halting Israeli military operations and troop presence in southern Lebanon . While Hezbollah refuses to fully disarm publicly, sources say it is privately considering scaling back its arsenal, though only after Israeli concessions are fulfilled.
Domestic political dynamics reflect the divide: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has proposed consolidating state authority by insisting that eventually only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers hold arms in the south, but he has ruled out using force to disarm Hezbollah and favors dialogue instead . Meanwhile, Hezbollah has informed Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri that it refuses to surrender its weapons, contradicting some earlier suggestions that disarmament could occur under certain conditions.
