May 25, 2026, 11:27 amMay 25, 2026, 11:27 am
Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Kassim has called on the people of Lebanon to overthrow the government. “The people have the right to take to the streets and overthrow the government,” Kassim said in a televised speech on Sunday evening. “If this government is unable to establish sovereignty (in the war with Israel), then it should leave.” He described the government as an “American-Israeli project that attacks the country’s institutions.”
Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Kassim calls for the overthrow of the Lebanese government.Image: keystone
Kassim again rejected calls for the Iranian-backed Hezbollah to disarm. “We will keep the weapons in our hands until the Lebanese state is able to fulfill its duty to protect and preserve Lebanon, its people and its resources,” Kassim said, according to Hezbollah broadcaster al-Manar. The country’s authorities could not “act as they please” in the action against the Shiite organization.
Worries about a bloody scenario from 2008
Since mid-April, Lebanon and Israel have been holding direct talks on a political level for the first time in decades, mediated by the USA in Washington. The disarmament of Hezbollah is a central point in the talks, in which the “Party of God” is not taking part.
If disarmament were to be disarmed by force, the small country could face the next serious crisis. Some fear that a scenario from May 2008 could then repeat itself: the government at the time tried, among other things, to shut down Hezbollah’s communications network. Their supporters then fought for days in battles with government supporters in Beirut, and dozens of people were killed. A serious civil war raged in Lebanon from 1975 to 1990 with tens of thousands of deaths.
Criticism from the US Secretary of State
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sharply criticized Kassim. Hezbollah is actively trying to drag Lebanon “back into chaos and destruction,” Rubio said. There will be no room for Hezbollah’s threats of violence. “The era in which a terrorist group held an entire nation hostage is coming to an end.” (hkl/sda/dpa)