While calls for the Lebanese Hezbollah to disarm are growing louder, a senior Hezbollah official told Reuters that the group is willing to engage in talks with the Lebanese president over their weapons if Israel withdraws from southern Lebanon and ceases its attacks.
The U.S.-backed President Joseph Aoun, who vowed upon taking office in January to introduce state control of weapons, is reportedly set to soon begin talks with Hezbollah over their arsenal, according to three Lebanese politicians.
The discussion on disarmament has intensified since the balance of power was shaken by the war with Israel last year and the ousting of Hezbollah’s Syrian ally, former President Bashar al-Assad.
Hezbollah emerged from the conflict with Israel in 2024 significantly weakened, with many of their top politicians and thousands of fighters killed and a large portion of their arsenal destroyed. The senior Hezbollah official stated that the group is willing to discuss their weapons within the framework of a national defense strategy, which would require Israel to withdraw its troops from five positions in southern Lebanon.
“The Hezbollah is willing to discuss its weapons if Israel withdraws from the five positions and stops its aggression against the Lebanese people” the senior official told Reuters.
The stance of Hezbollah on potential talks regarding their weapons has not been reported before. The sources spoke anonymously due to political sensitivities. The media office of Hezbollah did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Presidential Office, on the other hand, declined to comment.
Reuters reported earlier on April 7th that several Iran-backed militias in Iraq are willing to disarm in order to avoid the risk of escalating tensions with the Trump administration. The interviewed commanders belong to the Shia Kataib Hezbollah and the Nudschaba movement. Both are part of the powerful, Iran-backed umbrella organization of Popular Mobilization Forces.
Hezbollah has long rejected calls from its critics in Lebanon to disarm and refers to their weapons as necessary for defending the country against Israel. Deep divisions over their arsenal led to a brief civil war in 2008.
The U.S. Ambassador Morgan Ortagus, who visited Beirut over the weekend, reiterated the position of Washington that Hezbollah and other armed groups should disarm as soon as possible and that the Lebanese army should take on this task.