Hezbollah Military Activities - Disarmament

Disarmament

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559 called for the disarmament of militia with the Taif agreement at the end of the Lebanese civil war. Hezbollah's denounced and protested it. Its refusal to disarm has after the more recent conflict with Israel become controversial. Some still consider it a violation of the resolution and agreement and others now consider it a necessary and justified element of resistance. The official position of the Lebanese government is unclear, with conflicting statements given. The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera recently quoted Prime Minister Saniora was saying that, "Hezbollah has created, a 'state within a state,' adding: 'The entire world must help us disarm Hezbollah. But first we need to reach a cease-fire.'. According to a Forbes article, Saniora later denied these remarks, saying he "told the paper that 'the continued presence of Israeli occupation of Lebanese lands in the Chebaa Farms region is what contributes to the presence of Hezbollah weapons. The international community must help us in (getting) an Israeli withdrawal from Chebaa Farms so we can solve the problem of Hezbollah's arms'. Hezbollah denounced. The former prime minister of Lebanon, Najib Mikati, stated that "in our terminology Hezbollah is not a militia, it is a resistance and we believe there is a difference between resistance and militia". Butros Harb, a Lebanese lawmaker, recently spoke against Hezbollah's failure to disarm saying, "We can't have an illegal army at the heart of our state, all weapons must be held by the Lebanese government".

On August 5, 2006 the Prime Minister of Lebanon said that "the continued presence of Israeli occupation of Lebanese lands in the Shebaa Farms region is what contributes to the presence of Hezbollah weapons. The international community must help us in (getting) an Israeli withdrawal from Shebaa Farms so we can solve the problem of Hezbollah's arms".

An attempt made by the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah led to a new wave of violence in Lebanon at the first decade of May 2008. The militants belonging to Hezbollah and its allies have blocked Beirut airport as well as main city streets, paralyzing the life in the capital. On May 8, 2008 gun battles erupted between Hezbollah supporters and pro-government loyalists, while the leader of the organization called the government's decision "a declaration of war". Hezbollah took control of Western Beirut and after expelling pro-government militias from the city and than handed it over to the Lebanese Army, later they also attempted to clear out Mount Lebanon of pro-government forces but failed due to heavy resistance, mainly from armed supporters of the Progressive Socialist Party.