 "Hezbollah ready to talk on national defence with Lebanon as pressure mounts over Israel conflict")
Hezbollah is prepared to enter into talks with Lebanon’s government on a national defence strategy, a senior figure in the Iran-backed group said on Thursday (April 10), signalling a rare openness to negotiation over its powerful and controversial weapons arsenal.
Hassan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah MP, said the group was in “constant contact” with President Joseph Aoun and was ready to take part in a dialogue that would focus on safeguarding Lebanese sovereignty—particularly, he said, through the removal of remaining Israeli forces from Lebanese territory.
“We have expressed our readiness for dialogue to find a defence strategy for Lebanon,” Fadlallah said in a televised address. “We are in constant contact with President Aoun. When he calls for dialogue and sets national foundations for it, we are ready.”
His comments come amid a significant shift in Lebanon’s political and security landscape following the devastating 2024 war between Israel and Hezbollah. The conflict, which broke out in the wake of the Gaza war, left the group militarily and politically weakened, suffering the loss of senior commanders, thousands of fighters, and the disruption of key supply lines following the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
A fragile detente?
President Aoun, who took office in January with the backing of the United States, has made the establishment of a state monopoly on arms a centrepiece of his mandate.
Three Lebanese political sources told Reuters that talks between Aoun and Hezbollah over the group’s weaponry are expected to begin soon—potentially setting the stage for the most serious discussion in years about integrating or limiting Hezbollah’s vast arsenal.
Impact Shorts
View AllHezbollah, which before the war was estimated to possess more than 150,000 missiles and rockets according to the CIA World Factbook, has long resisted such overtures. It has consistently framed its armaments as vital for the defence of Lebanon against Israeli aggression, pointing to decades of conflict along the southern border.
But the outcome of the 2024 war appears to have reshaped the balance of power. Israeli forces pushed into southern Lebanon during the conflict and, while largely withdrawn, have retained control of five strategic hilltop positions. Israel has said it plans to transfer those positions to Lebanese forces once the security situation permits.
A senior Hezbollah official said week that the group’s willingness to engage in talks about its weapons was contingent on Israel’s full withdrawal and an end to military strikes.
Internal pressures and external scrutiny
The question of Hezbollah’s arms has long divided Lebanon. Supporters view the group as a bulwark against Israeli incursions, while critics argue that its weapons have undermined state sovereignty and drawn Lebanon into regional wars. In recent years, international pressure—including from the US and Gulf Arab states—has mounted for Lebanon to assert control over all armed groups operating within its borders.
Fadlallah used his speech to push back against suggestions that Hezbollah was using the Beirut port— scene of the catastrophic 2020 explosion— to smuggle weapons. “These reports are false,” he said, describing them as part of a disinformation campaign aimed at weakening the group’s standing.
While the possibility of Hezbollah entering formal talks over its military role may raise hopes of a recalibration in Lebanese politics, it is also a sign of the group’s weakened hand. With supply routes disrupted, popular support eroded, and its military capacity dented, Hezbollah faces a new reality in which its longstanding insistence on an independent arsenal may no longer be sustainable.
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