Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu claimed the move was agreed thanks to the successful IDF campaign against the terror group last year, which eliminated much of Hezbollah's leadership, including the then secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah.
But Hezbollah has declared that it will not lay down its arms and will instead “act like the decision does not exist”.
In an apparent show of force over the past several nights, motorcycles have driven through Beirut’s Dahiyeh district, a Hezbollah stronghold, honking horns, waving Hezbollah flags, blocking roads and burning tires.
Supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group lift flags as they rally in cars and motorbikes to protest the government's endorsement of a plan to disarm itAFP via Getty Images
On Friday, Qassem’s comments directly threatened the government and warned that, if the group’s weapons were taken by force, there would be “no life in Lebanon”.
“The government has taken a very dangerous decision … it is carrying out US and Israeli orders to end the resistance, even if that leads to civil war,” Qassem claimed.
“We will fight a battle like Karbala if necessary to confront this American-Israeli project, no matter the cost. Never to humiliation!” Qassem went on, in a reference to a 7th-century Islamic battle.
Hezbollah’s leader also thanked Iran for “supporting us with money, weapons, capabilities, and media and political positions,” Arab News reported.
In response, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam denounced the terror chief’s warning as “misleading” and “propaganda directed at Hezbollah’s supporters,” according to the Saudi-owned, London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat.
Salam said: “This direct or indirect threat of civil war is shameful. No Lebanese wants to go back to that.”
He criticised Qassem’s accusation that the Lebanese government was acting on behalf of American-Israeli orders.
“This government is a national Lebanese government. It makes its decisions through the Cabinet and is not subject to external dictates but to the demands of the Lebanese people. I believe the overwhelming majority of Lebanese support the government’s decision to implement a plan to restrict weapons to the state. I have no doubt about that,” Salam said.
He referred to Qassem as “an extension of external powers”.
“No one in this government considers themselves an extension of any foreign side,” the Lebanese prime minister said.
“There is no state without exclusive control of weapons. There cannot be two, three, four or five decision-making centers,” Salam went on.
