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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Lebanon\u2019s \u2018illegitimate\u2019
decision to disarm Hezbollah amounts to \u2018high treason\u2019:
Lawyer</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Presstv</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time">August 11, 2025</div>
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<p><strong>By Sally Ahmed</strong></p>
<p><strong>The recent decision by the Lebanese
government to disarm the Hezbollah resistance
movement is \u201cillegitimate\u201d and amounts to \u201chigh
treason\u201d as it serves the interests of the Israeli
enemy, according to a Lebanese lawyer.</strong></p>
<p>In an interview with the <em>Press TV website</em>,
Qassem Hadraj, a lawyer and expert in international
relations, said the Lebanese government\u2019s decision
\u201clacks legitimacy in both form and content".</p>
<p>On Tuesday, Lebanon\u2019s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam
tasked the country\u2019s army to develop a plan to
restrict weapons to the state by the end of the year,
a decision that aims at disarming the Hezbollah
resistance movement that has for decades defended the
country from external aggression, especially from the
Israeli enemy.</p>
<p>Two days later, during a cabinet meeting, the
Lebanese government officials further discussed the US
proposal aimed at disarming Hezbollah and endorsed its
\u201cobjectives\u201d.</p>
<p>In terms of form, Hadraj said the decision to disarm
Hezbollah constitutes \u201ca blatant violation of the pact
of mutual coexistence\u201d, as it was issued in the
absence of Hezbollah and Amal ministers from the Shia
community, who represent one of the main components of
the Lebanese society and politics.</p>
<p>Noting that the Lebanese constitution states that
there is no legitimacy for any authority that
contradicts the pact of mutual coexistence, Hadraj
said the move is deemed \u201cnon-existent."</p>
<p>Referring to Article 65 of Lebanon\u2019s Constitution,
which assigns executive authority to the cabinet as a
whole, Hadraj reiterated that the decision lacks
legitimacy because four Shia ministers walked out of
the August 7 government meeting in protest against the
US-proposed plan to disarm Hezbollah, while the fifth
minister objected to it.</p>
<p>In terms of content, Hadraj, who is also chairman of
the Human Rights and Media Committee of the World
Union Organization for Arabic Press, said the plan is
not implementable, due to Hezbollah\u2019s objections, and
because the army lacks the necessary information about
the types of weapons and their locations, as well as
the capabilities and expertise to deal with them.</p>
<p>\u201cIt is self-evident that any decision taken by the
executive authority is supposed to be implementable
and take into account the circumstances, timing and
priorities, which are absent in the government
decision,\u201d he noted.</p>
<p>Hezbollah has condemned the government\u2019s decision to
disarm it as a \u201cgrave sin,\u201d warning that such a move
would weaken the country against Israeli aggression.
The popular resistance group declared it would ignore
the decision entirely, treating it \u201cas if it did not
exist."</p>
<p>Noting that the decision to restrict arms directed
towards the enemy came while the state is unable to
confront the Israeli regime\u2019s relentless attacks, the
legal expert stressed that the decision amounts to
\u201chigh treason, as it serves the interest of the
enemy.\u201d</p>
<p>\u201cTherefore, the army can\u2019t execute an order by the
political authority that contradicts its military oath
and serve the enemy of its homeland,\u201d he stressed.</p>
<p>Decrying the decision as \u201cconstitutionally,
nationally, and morally invalid,\u201d Hadraj said it also
contradicts the principles established by the
president\u2019s oath of office and the government\u2019s
ministerial statement, and constitutes \u201ca coup by the
authority against itself and against the Taif
Agreement", negotiated in Saudi Arabia\u2019s Taif in 1989,
which ended the civil war in Lebanon.</p>
<p><strong>\u2018Catastrophic repercussions\u2019</strong></p>
<p>Hadraj also warned that this decision could have
\u201ccatastrophic repercussions\u201d for Lebanon, as it has
split the Lebanese people between opponents and
supporters.</p>
<p>However, he stressed that Hezbollah is trying to
contain the anger of the people who see this decision
as directly targeting \u201ctheir security and existence\u201d,
while keeping doors open for political efforts to
mitigate the dangers of this situation.</p>
<p>If not addressed quickly, Hadraj warned, this
decision will \u201cachieve for the enemy what it has
dreamed of for years.\u201d</p>
<p>The counsel pointed out that this decision could lead
to one of these three potential outcomes: either a
clash between the army and the resistance, or
Sunni-Shia strife, or a civil war, calling on the
government to reject foreign dictates.</p>
<p>\u201cTherefore, any other repercussions should Lebanon
refuse to implement the [US] dictates will be more
nationalistic and less dangerous to Lebanon's
existence as a unified state and an independent
entity,\u201d he emphasized.</p>
<p>His remarks came as supporters of the Lebanese
resistance took to the streets in several cities
across the country this week to protest the
government\u2019s controversial decision to implement the
US proposal aimed at stripping Hezbollah of its
weapons.</p>
<p><strong>\u2018US ignored Lebanon\u2019s amendments\u2019</strong></p>
<p>Hadraj noted that the new US proposal approved on
Thursday has ignored the Lebanese amendments to the
initial proposal and treated them \u201cas if they did not
exist.\u201d</p>
<p>He added that the new document even contains \u201cmore
submissive and surrendering conditions\u201d than the
previous one.</p>
<p>\u201cThe government's approval of it is tantamount to
signing an unconditional surrender instrument that
contradicts the national interest,\u201d Hadraj asserted.</p>
<p>\u201cThis is considered a public acknowledgment of the
Lebanese authority's inability\u201d to withstand American
and Israeli pressures, he noted, adding that the
\u201cstillborn\u201d decisions of August 5 and 7 were made
under coercion and under the threat of annexing
Lebanon to Syria, along with threats of economic
sanctions and a blockade</p>
<p>Hadraj stated that the government should have
resigned instead of endorsing this proposal and
\u201clegitimizing the Israeli occupation and American
guardianship\u201d.</p>
<p>\u201cThis is considered high treason against Lebanon and
necessitates the prosecution of every individual
complicit in this decision,\u201d he stressed.</p>
<p>Pointing out that the US confirmed the weapons of the
anti-Israel resistance movement should be either
seized or destroyed, Hadraj stated that this restricts
the role of the Lebanese army to that of \u201ca border
guard for the Israeli enemy\u201d.</p>
<p>\u201cConsequently, the decisions of the illegitimate
government include an explicit concession of the
army's role in confronting aggression and liberating
the land, restricting it to executing the political
orders dictated to the Lebanese authority, all of
which serve the interests of the enemy,\u201d he stated.</p>
<p>The army will not abide by these orders to preserve
its dignity and its role in maintaining civil peace
and to avoid the \u201cdisastrous repercussions\u201d that would
inevitably lead to a division within the military
institution itself, Hadraj said.</p>
<p>The counsel also ruled out the possibility of
Hezbollah disarmament, saying \u201ceveryone is aware that
if all the forces in the world united to disarm the
resistance, they wouldn\u2019t succeed.\u201d</p>
<p>He reaffirmed that the two decisions are just aimed
at creating \u201can internal rift and strife\u201d that could
lead to a civil war.</p>
<p>However, Hadraj stressed that the resistance is
expected to direct its efforts against the Israeli
enemy and continue to fulfill its mission of defending
the country and its people because this will be \u201cmore
honorable and less costly\u201d than any internal conflict.</p>
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