Hezbollah Rules Out New Disarmament Deal, Cites Unmet UN Resolution

Hezbollah’s deputy secretary-general Naim Qassem said the movement has not signed any new agreement on disarmament or the broader conflict with Israel, insisting that existing commitments under UN Security Council Resolution 1701 must first be honoured. “Let them carry out the first agreement, then we can discuss everything,” Qassem told reporters on 5 August. Qassem stressed that any decision on resistance to Israel requires national consensus and rejected the idea of a fixed timetable for handing over the group’s weapons while Israeli attacks continue. His comments came a day after a Hezbollah representative, speaking after a meeting with former Lebanese president Michel Aoun, said the organisation was open to solutions framed by Resolution 1701 and the current cease-fire arrangement. The contrasting statements highlight internal and external pressure on Hezbollah to curtail its armed activities in southern Lebanon, nearly two decades after Resolution 1701 ended the 2006 war between Israel and the Shiite movement. Israel has repeatedly accused Hezbollah of violating the resolution by maintaining armed forces south of the Litani River, while Hezbollah argues that Israeli overflights and border incidents breach the same accord.