MAARAB: Lebanon’s leading Christian politician, Samir Geagea, on Tuesday urged Hezbollah to surrender its weapons to the state “as soon as possible,” warning the Iran-backed group it has run out of options.
“Hezbollah has no choice but to hand over its weapons to the Lebanese state... because the state took this decision,” Geagea told AFP in an interview from his residence in Maarab, north of Beirut.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has come under mounting pressure to give up its arms since it was severely weakened by Israel last year, after intervening on the side of its Palestinian ally Hamas in the Gaza war.
Under intense US pressure and fearing expanded Israeli military action, the Lebanese government is seeking to disarm the group, and the army has begun implementing a plan to do so beginning in the country’s south.
“Hezbollah must certainly learn from what is currently happening with Hamas. This is an additional reason for it to hand over its weapons to the state as soon as possible,” Geagea, the head of the Lebanese Forces party, said.
Hamas and Israel are holding indirect talks in Egypt this week about US President Donald Trump’s 20-point proposal to end the devastating conflict in Gaza and build a roadmap for its post-war governance.
In October 2023, Hezbollah initiated cross-border hostilities with Israel in support of Hamas, culminating in two months of all-out war last year before a ceasefire was agreed in November.
The group suffered heavy losses, losing much of its top leadership, including leader Hassan Nasrallah.
“I don’t understand much of what they (Hezbollah) are doing... I didn’t understand the war in support (of Hamas),” Geagea said, adding it was “clear where it would lead.”
- ‘Outside the law’ -
A longtime opponent of Hezbollah, Geagea’s party has the largest number of MPs in Lebanon’s parliament.
The Lebanese Forces, like most major groups in Lebanon, surrendered its weapons following the end of the country’s 1975-1990 civil war.
Hezbollah was the only significant armed group to keep its weapons, doing so in the name of resistance against Israel which still occupied southern Lebanon at the time.
It has repeatedly rejected calls to lay down its arms.
Geagea said Lebanese authorities must show greater “firmness” in implementing a state monopoly on weapons.
He said Hezbollah’s opposition to disarmament “places it outside the political game and outside the law, and presents it as a rebel against the state.”
Geagea claimed that the real power over Hezbollah’s decision to disarm “rests with Iran,” which has long provided the group with money and weapons.
He argued that “the longer (Hezbollah) delays (disarming), the more it loses its ability to be a major political player” in Lebanon.
Before the war and the overthrow of its Syrian ally Bashar Assad shifted the balance of power in the region, Hezbollah was the most powerful political force in Lebanon, able to sway and disrupt governments and block the appointment of premiers and presidents.
