Amid heavy US pressure and fears Israel could expand its strikes on Lebanon, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Tuesday that the government had tasked the army with developing a plan to restrict weapons to government forces by year end.
The plan is to be presented to the government by the end of August for discussion and approval, and another cabinet meeting is scheduled for Thursday to continue the talks, including on a US-proposed timetable for disarmament.
Hezbollah said the government had "committed a grave sin by taking the decision to disarm Lebanon of its weapons to resist the Israeli enemy".
The decision is unprecedented since Lebanon's civil war factions gave up their weapons three and a half decades ago.
"This decision undermines Lebanon's sovereignty and gives Israel a free hand to tamper with its security, geography, politics and future existence... Therefore, we will treat this decision as if it does not exist," the Iran-backed group said in a statement.
- 'Serves Israel's interests' -
The government said its decision came as part of implementing a November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, which culminated in two months of full-blown war.
Hezbollah said it viewed the government's move as "the result of dictates from US envoy" Tom Barrack.
It "fully serves Israel's interests and leaves Lebanon exposed to the Israeli enemy without any deterrence", the group said.
Hezbollah was the only faction that kept its weapons after Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.
It emerged weakened politically and militarily from its latest conflict with Israel, its arsenal pummelled and its senior leadership decimated.
Israel has kept up its strikes on Hezbollah and other targets despite the November truce, and has threatened to keep doing so until the group has been disarmed.
An Israeli strike on the southern town of Tulin on Wednesday killed one person and wounded another, the health ministry said.
Israel also launched a series of air strikes on southern Lebanon, wounding at least two people according to the health ministry.
The Israeli military said it struck "weapons storage facilities, a missile launcher and Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure which stored engineering tools that allowed for the re-establishment of terrorist infrastructure in the area".
Hezbollah said Israel must halt the attacks before any domestic debate about its weapons and a new defence strategy could begin.
- 'Pivotal moment' -
"We are open to dialogue, ending the Israeli aggression against Lebanon, liberating its land, releasing prisoners, working to build the state, and rebuilding what was destroyed by the brutal aggression," the group said.
Hezbollah is "prepared to discuss a national security strategy", but not under Israeli fire, it added.
Two ministers affiliated with Hezbollah and its ally the Amal movement walked out of Tuesday's meeting.
Hezbollah described the walkout as "an expression of rejection" of the government's "decision to subject Lebanon to American tutelage and Israeli occupation".
The Amal movement, headed by parliament speaker Nabih Berri, accused the government of "rushing to offer more gratuitous concessions" to Israel when it should have sought to end the ongoing attacks.
It called Thursday's cabinet meeting "an opportunity for correction".
Hezbollah opponent the Lebanese Forces, one of the country's two main Christian parties, said the cabinet's decision to disarm the militant group was "a pivotal moment in Lebanon's modern history -- a long-overdue step toward restoring full state authority and sovereignty".
The Free Patriotic Movement, the other major Christian party and a former ally of Hezbollah, said it was in favour of the army receiving the group's weapons "to strengthen Lebanon's defensive power".
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a televised interview that any decision on disarmament "will ultimately rest with Hezbollah itself".
"We support it from afar, but we do not intervene in its decisions," he added, noting that the group had "rebuilt itself" following setbacks during its war with Israel.
What remains of Hezbollah's weapons arsenal?
Beirut, Lebanon (AFP) Aug 6, 2025 -
Hezbollah, which Lebanon plans to disarm by year end, had a formidable arsenal before war with Israel severely weakened the Iran-backed militant group last year.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said in June that the Lebanese army had dismantled more than 500 Hezbollah military positions and weapons depots in the south, after a November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities between the foes.
As the Israeli military keeps up its strikes on Hezbollah targets more than eight months after the truce, AFP looks at what remains of Hezbollah's weapons, supply routes and other capabilities.
- Rockets and missiles -
When Hezbollah opened hostilities with Israel in October 2023, its arsenal was reputedly larger than the Lebanese army's, and experts estimated it included ballistic missiles, as well as rockets, anti-aircraft, anti-tank and anti-ship missiles.
Hezbollah was the only group to keep its weapons after Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, doing so in the name of "resistance" against Israel, which occupied the south until 2000.
Military expert Riad Kahwaji said the group's arsenal was "degraded considerably as a result of the (latest) war and continued frequent strikes by the Israelis against its arms depots".
Intelligence reports indicate that the group "has lost a lot of its heavy arsenal -- the heavy long-range missiles", Kahwaji told AFP, with estimates it has lost "about 70 percent" of its capabilities.
- Supply routes -
The December ouster of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, a close Hezbollah ally, dealt a further blow to the group, with chief Naim Qassem admitting it lost a military supply line.
Syria's new authorities have since made several announcements of thwarting weapons shipments to Lebanon.
Kahwaji said the closure of Hezbollah's Syria supply route "has impacted its ability to rebuild its capabilities".
"However, Hezbollah has been trying to build some weapons domestically. It has workshops locally to build things like Katyusha missiles," he said.
Experts previously said Hezbollah had around 150,000 rockets before the latest round of fighting and an underground tunnel network in south Lebanon, as well as in the eastern Bekaa Valley near the Syrian border.
Officials have said the Lebanese army has sealed off Hezbollah tunnels since the ceasefire, while Israel has said it targeted the militant group's tunnels infrastructure in recent months.
- Drones -
Former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike last September, said domestic production contributed to his group's large stockpile of drones, which it used extensively during the recent hostilities.
Kahwaji said the group has the know-how and "ability to assemble drones" and clearly "is trying to build its drone capability".
An official close to the disarmament negotiations said Hezbollah had not dismissed the possibility of giving up its heavy weapons but was insisting on keeping its drones and Kornet anti-tank missiles.
- Fighters -
Nasrallah said his group could count on more than 100,000 fighters, twice as many as estimated by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
In September, an Israeli operation detonated hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah, with Lebanese authorities reporting that the attack killed several dozen people and wounded thousands.
The year-long hostilities killed more than 4,000 people, Lebanese authorities have said, most of them during the two months of full-blown war that preceded the ceasefire.
Among the dead were hundreds of Hezbollah fighters and a slew of senior commanders.
According to Hezbollah television channel Al-Manar, Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the ceasefire have killed at least 230 people and wounded 477.
Israel has vowed to keep up its attacks on Hezbollah targets until the group is disarmed.
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