The secretary general of Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance group has rejected calls to disarm Hezbollah and establish a state monopoly on weapons while Israel continues to occupy parts of southern Lebanon, urging the Beirut government to stop making commitments that serve Israeli interests.

In a televised speech broadcast from the Lebanese capital on the occasion of Hezbollah Martyrs’ Day, Sheikh Naim Qassem called on Lebanese authorities to stop discussions on the government’s plan to establish a monopoly on arms across the country, citing Israel’s continued acts of aggression.

“This is disarmament under naked Israeli aggression, as the occupying regime is aggressively seeking to strip Hezbollah of its weapons,” Sheikh Qassem said, asking, “Where is the sovereignty that the political authorities claim to be pursuing?”

The Hezbollah chief stated that some Lebanese officials seek to surrender the resistance and the Arab nation to Israel in pursuit of their own interests.

“This country belongs to all of us, and we must all protect it. The army’s role is to preserve civil peace and defend Lebanon; yet they want a military that fights its own people, plunges the country into internal strife, and implements Israeli demands for disarmament,” Sheikh Qassem pointed out.

He stressed that the urgent priority for the Beirut government is to stop the Israeli aggression, force the Israeli military to withdraw from southern Lebanon, ensure the return of displaced people to their towns and villages, and begin reconstruction.

[This item is being updated.]