Naim Qassem refuses Hezbollah disarmament as Ortagus heads to Lebanon

Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem has once again rejected demands for the militant group to lay down its arms, as US pressure over the matter mounts.

In an interview with the Al-Manar channel marking one year of his leadership of Hezbollah, Qassem stressed that the Iran-backed group’s weapons arsenal is a "legitimate tool" for resisting Israel’s occupation and threats.

"Our weapons are a legitimate means of defending the homeland and our existence. There is no separation between our survival and that of the nation, and we reject becoming a target for the enemy’s conditions or calculations."

Qassem said the possibility of an escalated conflict "exists", but the group has "no intention" of starting a war. The Hezbollah leader, however, stressed that his party is prepared to defend itself in the event of Israeli aggression, "until its last breath".

"Resistance is an option that cannot be abandoned in the face of aggression, regardless of the level of recovery or the strength of our capabilities. We say to the entire world that we will remain a resistance group even if we have nothing left but our nails or a stick, and we will not stop," he said.

This comes as the Lebanese government has faced months of US pressure to disarm the group, as per the November 2024 ceasefire’s broader conditions, which also entail full Israeli army withdrawal from Lebanon. 

Hezbollah has repeatedly refused calls to drop its arms as long as there is an Israeli presence in the country.

President Joseph Aoun, elected earlier this year, has urged the group to follow through with the order, amid the Lebanese government's plans to establish a state monopoly over weapons.

Qassem, who succeeded Hassan Nasrallah following his assassination last year, also addressed Hezbollah’s targeting of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in October 2024.

"The strike was intentional, either to hit Netanyahu or to hit his home. The targeting itself was directed at the entire house, not the bedroom specifically. This was an intelligence and operational achievement, as the target was hit," he said.

Ortagus in Lebanon over disarmament process

This comes as US envoy Morgan Ortagus arrived in Lebanon on Monday for talks on Hezbollah’s disarmament.

Ortagus, the White House's deputy Middle East envoy, is expected to meet with President Aoun and other officials on Tuesday. She is also expected to attend a meeting on Wednesday reviewing the Lebanese army's efforts to clear Hezbollah arms caches in the country's south.

Over the weekend, she toured an Israeli military base next to the Lebanese border with Defence Minister Israel Katz.

Katz briefed the deputy envoy on the Israel army’s defensive and offensive plans concerning Hezbollah, and toured the border community of Misgav Am. She was accompanied by the US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, his counterpart Yechiel Leiter, as well as Israeli army personnel and representatives from the US Central Command.

Ortagus’ visit to both Israel and Lebanon comes as Tel Aviv intensified its attacks on the country, in a violation of the ceasefire agreement reached between the two parties in November 2024.

More than a dozen people have been killed in recent days, with strikes mostly targeting the country’s south, as well as the eastern Beqaa region, raising fears that an intensified Israeli campaign is imminent.

Another US envoy, ambassador Tom Barrack, warned last week that Hezbollah may be faced with an Israeli confrontation if the group refuses to lay down its arms.

The ceasefire was put in place following a year-long exchange of cross-border fire in parallel with the war in Gaza, before the attacks escalated into a full-blown war and invasion of the country, killing more than 4,000 Lebanese.

At least 100 people have been killed by Israel’s violations of the truce over the past 11 months.