Hezbollah’s MP Hassan Izz-Al-Din, blasted the Lebanese government’s decision to enforce exclusive state control over weapons, calling it a “grave mistake” that ignores its risks and consequences.
Izz-Al-Din said the move aims to strip the resistance of its arms, which he described as a remaining obstacle and relative deterrent preventing Israel from achieving its objectives.
He argued that if the state insists on monopolizing weapons, it must also develop a comprehensive defense and security strategy.
“In every country, when facing danger, armies call up reserve forces. Lebanon should benefit from all available capabilities during moments of confrontation,” he added.
Izz-Al-Din stressed that the push for exclusive state control over arms is, in his view, an Israeli, American, and Zionist demand, translated through repeated visits of U.S. envoys, from Tom Barrack to Morgan Ortagus, as well as bipartisan congressional delegations.
According to Ali Hussein a Lebanese Political analyst , “Hezbollah continues to claim that its vast arsenal exists solely to defend Lebanon from Israeli aggression and to support resistance. But nearly two decades of evidence tell a different story—one of regional entanglements, internal repression, and national devastation. Today, Hezbollah’s arms are less a shield and more a sword hanging over Lebanon’s sovereignty, its people, and its very survival.”
” Twice, Hezbollah’s weapons failed in their core mission of defending Lebanon. In the 2006 war with Israel, the group’s so-called “divine victory” resulted in massive destruction across the south and Beirut’s southern suburbs. Instead of repelling Israel, it brought ruin to Lebanese towns. More recently, its last confrontation with Israel ended in the loss of several strategic hills in southern Lebanon—hardly the sign of a victorious resistance.”, he added.
Former slain Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri, father of ex-PM Saad Hariri was assassinated in downtown Beirut on February 14, 2005. Three Hezbollah operatives Habib Merhi, Hussein Oneissi, and Salim Ayyash were sentenced to life imprisonment for the killing of Hariri by a UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) but Hezbollah refused to hand them over to the court.
“Rather than defending the homeland, Hezbollah has repeatedly turned its guns inward. After the 2006 war, it occupied downtown Beirut—an area rebuilt over 12 years by the late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri—paralyzing Lebanon’s economic and political life. Then, in May 2008, it launched an armed assault on West Beirut and attempted, unsuccessfully, to overrun the Druze and Christian strongholds of Mount Lebanon. These were not acts of national defense, but internal intimidation and political blackmail” , the analyst went on to say.
“The group’s violence has not stopped at the battlefield. In the wake of Syria’s withdrawal from Lebanon in 2005, a wave of political assassinations began, targeting those who opposed Syria’s and Hezbollah’s domination. Among the most prominent was the assassination of Rafik Hariri himself. Journalists, lawmakers, and security officials who dared speak out met similar fates. The message was clear: dissent would be punished by death, Mr Hussein added.
Even more devastating was Hezbollah’s role in the 2020 Beirut Port explosion. In 2013, the group facilitated the illegal storage of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate—reportedly to aid the Assad regime’s barrel bomb campaign after Syria surrendered its chemical weapons to the OPCW. When that stockpile ignited, it wiped out entire neighborhoods, killed over 220 people, wounded more than 6,000, and left 300,000 homeless. This was not collateral damage. This was criminal negligence rooted in Hezbollah’s obsession with weapons and war.” He added
“Hezbollah’s own Shiite base has suffered the most. In every war, it is their homes that are destroyed, their families displaced, and their towns left in rubble. And yet, no country in the world is willing to help rebuild as long as Hezbollah remains armed and unaccountable. Their suffering has become the currency Hezbollah uses to justify its next confrontation.” mr Hussein added
“Let us be clear: Hezbollah’s weapons have not liberated a single inch of Palestine. Instead, they have brought destruction to Lebanon. They have not defended the nation—they have dismantled it. Their continued existence violates both UN Resolution 1559, which calls for the disbandment of all militias in Lebanon, and the Taif Agreement, which mandates one army under one state.” Mr Hussein concluded
LBC/ Ya Libnan