Lebanese Christian Party Calls on Hezbollah to Relinquish Weapons

(Patria) - A leading Lebanese Christian party has called on Hezbollah to hand over its weapons to the state as the army prepares to implement a disarmament plan, AFP reported.

The Iran-backed group is seriously weakened by a year-long conflict with Israel, including a two-month open war, which destroyed part of its arsenal and decimated its leadership.

Under pressure from the United States, the Lebanese government in August ordered the army to prepare a plan to disarm the group by the end of the year.
Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces and the main Christian bloc in parliament, said Hezbollah's weapons have "no impact" on Israel and have only brought "destruction, ruin, displacement, and calls for new occupation".

"The shortest path to ending Israeli occupation and aggression, my brothers, is to build a real state... and there can be no real state as long as there is illegal weaponry," he added, calling for "all weapons to be returned to the Lebanese state".
"Your war with Israel was lost and destructive... a civil war would be even more catastrophic and could cause you to lose everything."

Hezbollah, the only faction to have retained its weapons after the Lebanese civil war from 1975 to 1990, has rejected disarmament, accusing the authorities of serving Israel and the United States.

"It is still possible to break this cycle and avoid further losses with the brave choice of moving from illegality to legitimacy," Geagea said, accusing Hezbollah of serving "the Iranian expansionist project".