Minister of Industry George Issa Al-Khoury expressed his astonishment at the implicit threat of a “civil war” launched by the Deputy Head of the Political Council of Hezbollah, Mahmoud Qomati, during his meeting with “Russia Today” channel, and wondered: “Between whom and whom will this war be? Between an illegitimate armed group and the legitimate army?”. He added that civil wars often occur between irregular armed groups, expressing his fear that if “Hezbollah” does not give up its weapons, other unarmed groups may resort to arming themselves under the pretext of the army’s inability to protect them.
To the “Al-Sharq Al-Awsat” newspaper, Al-Khoury affirmed that “Is it permissible for one group to be armed to fight Israel? This is unacceptable. Either we build a state together, or we look for other projects. The region is moving with great momentum, while we are going backwards.”
He considered that the army’s upcoming plan to confine weapons north of the Litani should not be implemented in stages, but all at once until the end of March, stressing that “linking the implementation of the plan to the army’s capabilities and potential is not appropriate.” He pointed out that “the strongest militia after the civil war was the Lebanese Forces, which later committed to building the state and handed over its weapons to the army, and the latter did not have to deploy in the areas where it had a presence, and this is what should happen today with Hezbollah.”
In contrast, Minister Issa Al-Khoury stressed that “what was stated by Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji represents the government’s position and not his personal position,” and recalled that “the agreement approved by Hezbollah lists the parties who have the right to bear arms, and of course did not mention Hezbollah, which means that its adherence to its weapons constitutes a violation of the agreement, and provides a pretext for Israel to refuse to implement its provisions.”
For its part, sources familiar with Hezbollah’s atmosphere revealed to “Al-Sharq Al-Awsat” that the party “does not want a collision with the army, just as the army does not want to go to disarm by force,” explaining that “the warning launched by Mahmoud Qomati is directed to the political forces that are pushing for disarmament by force.” The sources added that “what is happening is an attempt to prepare the atmosphere in order to go to an agreement to resolve this issue.”
These statements coincided with a political campaign launched by the deputies of the Shiite duo (Amal and Hezbollah) against Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji, because of his statement in a television interview that “the ceasefire declaration approved by the government stipulates restricting Hezbollah’s weapons in exchange for stopping Israeli attacks, and as long as the weapons have not been completely restricted, Israel, unfortunately, has the right to continue its attacks.”
Member of the “Loyalty to the Resistance” bloc, MP Ali Ammar, described this statement as “dangerous,” considering that it “requires a clear and decisive position from the President and the Prime Minister, and putting an end to this type of statement that fuels internal divisions and only serves the enemy and its interests.”
For his part, member of the “Development and Liberation” bloc, MP Qassem Hashem, considered that “the Foreign Minister’s words not only raise suspicion and fear, but go beyond that to justify Israeli aggression against Lebanon, in a position that constitutes a transgression of the limits of authority and sovereignty and a stab at national dignity,” demanding that he be questioned in the Council of Ministers.
