“Call for submitting arms practically demand submitting them to Israel, We will not submit” say Hezbollah chief

(Forelines) – As the United States increases pressure for action to eliminate its weapons, Sheikh Naim Qassem, the head of Hezbollah in Lebanon, stated on Wednesday, that calls for the disarmament of the Iran-aligned militant group only benefited Israel, according to Reuters report.

“Those who call for submitting arms practically demand submitting them to Israel … We will not submit to Israel,” Qassem stated in a televised address, quoted by Reuters.

After a battle with Israel last year that killed thousands of Hezbollah militants, drove tens of thousands of its followers from their devastated homes, and removed the majority of the group’s leadership, Hezbollah came out of the conflict severely injured, added in a report.

Five people with knowledge of the situation told Reuters that the United States is now pressuring Lebanon to issue a formal cabinet vote pledging to disarm Hezbollah prior negotiations on a pause to Israel’s military operations in the country can restart.

Hezbollah has publicly refused to hand over its entire arsenal, although having privately contemplated lowering it, reported by Reuters.

“Those who call for disarmament on a domestic, global or Arab level serve the Israeli project,” according to Reuters, citing Qassem.

Additionally, he said that the United States was asking that Hezbollah’s drones and missiles be taken down because they “scare” Israel, accusing U.S. special envoy Thomas Barrack of advocating disarmament for Israel’s benefit rather than Lebanon’s security, as per Reuters.

“Israel will not be able to defeat us and it will not be able to take Lebanon hostage,” he further stated, cited by Reuters.

According to Reuters, in early July, Barrack met with Lebanese officials in Beirut to explore the disarmament concept. In return for the evacuation of Israeli troops holding multiple positions in south Lebanon and an end to Israeli airstrikes, Hezbollah would be completely disarmed within four months.

Hezbollah has been under pressure to completely surrender its weapons in recent months from both Washington and inside Lebanon.