BEIRUT: As calls for Lebanon’s Hezbollah to disarm gain momentum, a senior Hezbollah official said on Thursday the group is ready to hold talks with the Lebanese president about its weapons if Israel withdraws from the south and stops its strikes.

The prospect of talks aimed at securing Hezbollah’s disarmament — unimaginable when it was at the zenith of its power just two years ago — underlines dramatic shifts in the Middle East power balance since Oct 2023.

President Joseph Aoun, who vowed when he took office in January to establish a state monopoly on the control of arms, intends to open talks with Hezbollah over its arsenal soon, according to Lebanese political sources.

The senior Hezbollah official said the group was ready to discuss its arms in the context of a national defence strategy, but this hinged on Israel pulling out its troops from five hilltops in south Lebanon.

“Hezbollah is ready to discuss the matter of its arms if Israel withdraws from the five points, and halts its aggression against Lebanese,” the senior official said.

Hezbollah’s position on potential discussions about its arms has not been previously reported.

Israel, which sent ground troops into south Lebanon last year, has largely withdrawn but decided in February not to leave the five hilltop positions. It said it intended eventually to hand them over to Lebanese troops once it was sure the security situation allowed.

Despite a ceasefire since November, Israeli air strikes have kept pressure on Hezbollah while Washington has demanded Hezbollah disarm.

Several Iran-backed militia groups in Iraq said on Monday they are prepared to disarm to avert the threat of an escalating conflict with the Trump administration.

Hezbollah has long rejected calls from its critics in Lebanon to disarm, describing its weapons as vital to defending the country from Israel. Deep differences over its arsenal spilled into a short civil war in 2008.

The group’s critics say the group has unilaterally dragged Lebanon into conflicts and the presence of its large arsenal outside of government control has undermined the state.

A US-brokered ceasefire with Israel requires the Lebanese army to dismantle all unauthorised military facilities and confiscate all arms, starting in areas south of the Litani River, which flows into the Mediterranean some 20 kilometres north of the Israeli border.

Sources familiar with Hezbollah’s thinking said it is weighing handing to the army its most potent weapons north of the Litani, including drones and anti-tank missiles.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2025