Hezbollah rejects calls to disarm, says demands serve Israel

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has said that calls for the Lebanese group’s disarmament serve only Israel, amid pressure from the United States for Beirut to take such steps.

“Those who call for submitting arms practically demand submitting them to Israel … We will not submit to Israel,” Qassem said on Wednesday in a televised address marking the first anniversary of the targeted killing by Israel of senior commander Fuad Shukr.
Hezbollah emerged weakened from a war with Israel last year that eliminated most of the group’s leadership, killed thousands of its fighters and left tens of thousands of its supporters displaced from their destroyed homes.