Hezbollah’s new secretary-general, Sheikh Naim Qassem, said in a televised Ashura address on 6 July that the group will neither surrender nor hand over its arsenal despite mounting domestic and international pressure. “Threats will not make us capitulate,” he declared to thousands of supporters gathered in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Qassem insisted that any discussion of a national defence strategy, including Hezbollah’s weapons, can only begin after Israel fulfils the first phase of the November 2024 U.S.-brokered cease-fire: a full withdrawal from southern Lebanon’s five remaining border outposts, an end to air strikes, the release of Lebanese prisoners and the start of reconstruction. Until those conditions are met, he said, Hezbollah will “keep the flame of resistance burning” while remaining “ready for peace and for rebuilding Lebanon.” The remarks come ahead of a planned visit to Beirut by U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, who is expected to press Lebanese leaders to secure Hezbollah’s disarmament by year-end as part of a wider proposal to stabilise the country. President Joseph Aoun has signalled openness to dialogue but argues that disarming the group is impossible while Israeli forces remain on Lebanese soil. Israel launched a wide-scale assault on Lebanon in October 2023, escalating into a full-scale war that killed more than 4,000 people, wounded over 17,000 and displaced nearly 1.4 million, according to official Lebanese figures. Although the cease-fire reduced large-scale hostilities, Beirut says Israeli forces have committed roughly 3,000 violations since November, including strikes that have killed at least 250 people. Israeli operations last year also killed Hezbollah’s longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah; Qassem, his former deputy, took charge in October 2024.