Hezbollah stands firm on rejecting Lebanon's 'impossible' disarmament plan

Lebanese government plans to take on militant group under pressure from Washington

Hezbollah supporters have held nightly protests against Lebanon's plan to disarm the group. EPA

Hezbollah officials have doubled down on rejecting Lebanon's plan to disarm the group, as one senior figure said taking its weapons was “impossible”.

Mahmoud Qamati, the deputy head of Hezbollah's political council, said the government would not be able to disarm it. He insisted Hezbollah was neither isolated nor besieged despite growing pressure from inside and outside Lebanon.

The government in Beirut last week agreed on a move to disarm Hezbollah in a historic decision, despite all Shiite ministers storming out of the parliamentary session in protest.

Two days previously, they had ordered the Lebanese army to prepare a plan – to be delivered by the end this month – to disarm Hezbollah by the year's end.

The decision has sparked fury from Hezbollah, which has said it will treat the decision as if it does not exist. Nightly protests against the move have broken out in areas with traditional Hezbollah support.

On Monday, Hezbollah MP Ihab Hamada pledged that no weapons would be handed over and said the government plan would fail.

At an event in south Lebanon, another Hezbollah MP, Hassan Ezzedine, said the group could not disarm when Israel continues to violate Lebanese sovereignty on a daily basis through its occupation of Lebanese soldiers and daily air strikes.

“Every person in Lebanon has the right to do so when confronting an external enemy occupying their land … resistance is no longer merely an option, but rather a national duty,” he said.

Hezbollah has also been deeply critical of the government for approving the objectives of a US series of proposals that would include disarming the group. They have accused the government of acting on the whims of Washington.

Under the US proposals, Israel would withdraw fully from Lebanon, but there is little faith this will materialise given its conduct in Lebanon and elsewhere.

In spite of the obstacles, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has pledged to ensure the state will have all weapons under its control.

Hezbollah has consistently rejected discussions over its arms until Israel stops its daily attacks on Lebanon and withdraws from five points of territory it continues to occupy despite reaching a ceasefire with the Iran-backed group in November. It has said attempts to disarm it weaken Lebanon’s position amid Israeli and US “threats” against the country.

On Saturday, the Lebanese army said a blast at a weapons depot near the Israeli border killed six soldiers as troops were posted to the south to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure in the area as part of a disarmament plan.