BEIRUT, Lebanon: Lebanon´s cabinet on Thursday instructed security forces to restrict weapons in Beirut exclusively to state institutions, in a warning to Hezbollah a day after Israel launched strikes across the country including the capital.
“The army and security forces are requested to immediately begin reinforcing the full imposition of state authority over Beirut Governorate and to monopolise weapons in the hands of legitimate authorities alone,” Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said at the end of a cabinet meeting.
Information Minister Paul Morcos said the decision prompted objections from Iran-backed Hezbollah´s two ministers in the cabinet.
The Lebanese government banned Hezbollah´s military activities at the beginning of March, shortly after the start of war with Israel, but the decision has not stopped the Iran-backed armed group and political party -- represented in cabinet and parliament -- from conducting military operations.
Beirut had also committed in 2025 to disarm the group, the only one to keep its weapons after Lebanon´s 1975-1990 civil war.
On Wednesday, Israel carried out its largest wave of strikes since the start of its war with Hezbollah on March 2, leaving more than 200 people dead.
The conflict has cost more than 1,700 lives in just over a month, according to Lebanon´s health ministry.
