UPDATE 2 – Lebanon opens cabinet meeting on state control over weapons

UPDATES WITH DETAILS, CHANGES DECK

By Wassim Samih Seifeddine and Betul Yilmaz

BEIRUT / ISTANBUL (AA) – An anticipated Lebanese cabinet meeting began on Tuesday to finalize discussions on the state monopoly over weapons and disarmament of non-state groups, primarily Hezbollah.

According to the state news agency NNA, the cabinet session is headed by President Joseph Aoun, with the participation of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam at the Baabda Palace east of Beirut.

The meeting focuses on the extension of Lebanese sovereignty over all its territories and bringing all weapons under state control, which means the disarmament of Hezbollah and other non-governmental armed groups.

The Lebanese president and the premier had a private meeting before the cabinet session, the agency added.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem, for his part, said his group is open to cooperating with the government on national defense, “rather than setting a date for disarmament.”

“The state must provide protection, not strip its people and resistance of their strength, but rather benefit from it instead of disarming for the sake of Israel, the US, and an Arab country,” he said in a televised speech.

Ahead of the cabinet meeting, Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Fayyad warned against turning the Lebanese-Israeli conflict into an internal conflict via the current disarmament discussions.

In statements, Fayyad called for a unified stance within Lebanon to force Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory, cease its hostilities, and release prisoners.

Hezbollah has repeatedly rejected calls for laying down its weapons before Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanese territory.

Israel launched a military offensive in Lebanon on Oct. 8, 2023, which escalated into a full-scale war by September 2024, killing more than 4,000 people and injuring around 17,000.

A ceasefire was reached in November, but Israeli forces have conducted near-daily attacks in southern Lebanon, claiming to target activities of the Lebanese Hezbollah group.

Under the truce, Israel was supposed to fully withdraw from southern Lebanon by Jan. 26, but the deadline was extended to Feb. 18 after Tel Aviv refused to comply. Israel still maintains a military presence at five border outposts.