One year after killing of leader Nasrallah, Hezbollah says no to disarming

The Lebanese authorities has backed plans to disarm Hezbollah, which was severely weakened by its latest warfare with Israel.

Hezbollah person Naim Qassem has said the equipped Lebanese radical volition not springiness up its weapons, 1 twelvemonth aft Israel killed his predecessor, Hassan Nasrallah, successful an aerial onslaught connected confederate Beirut.

Speaking connected Saturday to the thousands who had gathered astatine Nasrallah’s tomb successful Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, Qassem promised to support Hezbollah’s subject capabilities, which person been importantly weakened by its caller warfare with Israel.

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“We volition ne'er wantonness our weapons, nor volition we relinquish them,” helium said, adding that Hezbollah would proceed to “confront immoderate task that serves Israel”.

His comments travel aft the caller Lebanese authorities publically committed to disarming the Iran-backed group.

In the run-up to the archetypal day of his charismatic predecessor’s death, tensions soared betwixt Hezbollah supporters and opponents successful Lebanon.

Images of Nasrallah and his heir apparent, Hashem Safieddine, who was killed successful an Israeli aerial strike conscionable weeks aft his boss, were projected onto rocks disconnected the seashore of Beirut this week, contempt orders from Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam prohibiting it.

On Saturday, thousands of men, women and children wearing achromatic flocked towards Nasrallah’s burial site, with galore carrying portraits of the slain leader. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary, Ali Larijani, besides attended the commemoration.

“We came present to archer everyone successful Lebanon that Hezbollah is inactive strong,” said Fatima, whose hubby was killed successful the warfare with Israel past September.

Speaking to the AFP quality agency, Ali Jaafar, a 21-year-old assemblage student, said helium believed that disarmament of Hezbollah would not happen.

“Handing implicit the weapons is the imagination of the enemies, the interior and outer ones – but it volition stay conscionable a dream,” helium said.

Nasrallah was killed connected September 27 past year, erstwhile Israel dropped a bid of bunker buster bombs connected a Hezbollah analyzable successful confederate Beirut. He had been successful complaint of the question for much than 30 years.

After Israel began its warfare connected Gaza pursuing the deadly Hamas attacks connected October 7, 2023, Hezbollah launched rockets astatine Israel successful solidarity with the Palestinian radical nether onslaught successful the coastal enclave.

A twelvemonth aft joining the combat against Israel, Hezbollah was dealt a superior stroke erstwhile Israel’s quality bureau detonated explosives secretly planted wrong thousands of pagers utilized by the group’s members to communicate. Many Lebanese civilians were casualties of the indiscriminate pager blasts, including an eight-year-old miss who was killed.

As the Israeli subject targeted and killed Nasrallah and different elder leaders successful a monolithic aerial bombing campaign, it besides sent thousands of troops crossed the borderline to destruct towns, villages and inhabit areas of confederate Lebanon.

Despite a ceasefire statement to extremity the struggle that was signed betwixt Lebanon and Israel successful November 2024, Israel’s subject inactive occupies Lebanese territory and continues to behaviour aerial strikes wrong Lebanon that person killed galore civilians, but which it claims are Hezbollah members.