Israel Threatens: “Either the State Disarms Hezbollah, or We Will”

Lebanon Today

An Israeli security source told Sky News Arabia that Israel is closely monitoring Hezbollah’s efforts to “restore all its capabilities, including its strategic capabilities,” stressing that Tel Aviv will not hesitate to take military action if the Lebanese state does not take effective measures to disarm the party.

The source explained: “Either the Lebanese state disarms the party, or we will do it. We send the locations of the party’s weapons and activities to the coordination committee, and if it does not act, we will act. Sometimes when there is an immediate threat, we attack it without sending a prior alert to the committee.” He added that Israel “destroys what reaches the party” from attempts to smuggle weapons and monitors any suspicious activity.

The source pointed out that “Hezbollah no longer possesses the same armament capabilities, nor the leadership capabilities, and has largely lost its ability to organize a coordinated attack,” but he added that Israel is preparing for the possibility of war and is developing “new capabilities and surprises” in anticipation of any potential confrontation, stressing that “every activist in Hezbollah who is still active in the party is a target for us.”

On the other hand, the French newspaper “Le Figaro” published a report revealing that the party is currently operating “almost completely underground” and is rebuilding its leadership structure and military strength in complete secrecy, after the Israeli operations carried out during the past year, according to Western media reports. The newspaper stated that the rebuilding strategy includes relying on young leaders, redistributing responsibilities to enhance secrecy, reducing external communications, and transferring fighters to strongholds within the Bekaa region, in addition to maintaining some ties within the Lebanese agencies primarily concerned with the task of disarmament.

In a related context, European sources told Sky News Arabia that the possibility of Israel launching a large-scale strike on Lebanon is imminent, given the ongoing debate about whether Israel will treat the Lebanese state as a “complicit or failed” party.