Shafaq News- Beirut (Updated at 23:38)
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem on Sunday said the Lebanese government should step down if it is unable to protect the country’s sovereignty, adding that citizens have the right to “take to the streets” to bring it down and confront what he described as a US-Israeli agenda.
In a televised address, Qassem rejected calls by the Lebanese government, the United States, and Israel to disarm Hezbollah, describing the issue as an attempt to “eliminate the resistance” and criticizing government decisions that had effectively “criminalized the resistance.”
On March 2, the same day Hezbollah fired six rockets at Israel in response to the US-Israeli assassination of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam declared that all military activity conducted by the group outside state authority was illegal and demanded that Hezbollah hand over its weapons to the state. Information Minister Paul Morcos later ordered official Lebanese media outlets to stop referring to Hezbollah as “the resistance.”
“We do not ask the state to confront the US-Israeli project, but it must not become a tool in facilitating it,” Qassem said, while questioning whether Lebanese authorities were fulfilling their constitutional responsibility to safeguard the country’s sovereignty and security.
The remarks came a week after Lebanese and Israeli officials held a third round of direct talks in Washington aimed at securing a longer-term ceasefire and addressing unresolved security issues in southern Lebanon, including Hezbollah’s military role south of the Litani River. Qassem had previously urged Beirut to withdraw from the negotiations and stop their “free concessions,” particularly as Israel continues to violate the ceasefire.
His comments also followed reports that a proposed US-Iran memorandum of understanding (MoU) could halt fighting across all regional fronts, including Lebanon, starting Monday morning if approved by both sides. However, Axios reported that the proposed agreement would allow Israel to continue taking action in Lebanon if Hezbollah “attempted to rearm,” effectively preserving Israeli freedom of military movement inside Lebanese territory.
Hezbollah officials, including Qassem, have previously rejected such terms, insisting the group’s attacks would continue unless Israel fully withdraws from Lebanese territory and completely ends hostilities. The group has repeatedly warned against a repeat of the ceasefire that was in effect between November 2024 and March 2026, during which Israeli strikes inside Lebanon continued, killing more than 500 people, mostly women and children.