Hizballah threatens civil war after Lebanon’s decision to disarm it, says ‘treasonous’ government must fall

Hizballah threatens civil war after Lebanon’s decision to disarm it, says ‘treasonous’ government must fall

Christine Douglass-Williams

In early August, Lebanon declared that it was no longer under Iranian patronage or dictates, and then vowed to disarm Hizballah.

A Foreign Policy article entitled “Why Hezbollah Is Rich and Lebanon Is Poor” tells part of the story of how the people of Lebanon suffered an economic collapse under Hizballah. And now, Hizballah is determined to hold on to power, threatening to provoke a civil war in the face of efforts to disarm the group.

Hizballah referenced the Lebanese government as “treasonous”; in Hizballah’s view, Lebanon should be focused on Islam and Islamic jihad, with the priority being “death to Israel…death to America.” To oppose that vision is treasonous in Hizballah’s view.

Hizballah still hasn’t learned from Israel’s exploding pagers incident. Instead, it declares “We will fight as we fought in Karbala.” This signals Hizballah’s determination to continue the bloody jihad no matter what the losses. The Battle of Karbala happened in 680 CE, when Husayn ibn Ali, Muhammad’s grandson, led a small army against the forces of the Umayyad Caliph Yazid I, but was defeated. The battle lead to the “martyrdom” of Husayn, his family and many of his followers. Historically, this was the beginning of the Sunni-Shi’ite split; Shi’ites still mourn the death of Husayn annually. That Hizballah would reference this battle shows the extent of zeal driving the group. Despite the passage of time since Karbala, Hizballah is ready to fight to the death at attain “martyrdom” in the way of Allah. It also underscores the extent of the Islamic zeal that motivates jihadists.

It’s also obvious, however, that the Lebanese government will put up a fierce fight, and that Israel will side with Lebanon against the threat of Hizballah, should it indeed rise again.

“Hizbullah Threatens Civil War Following Government Decision To Disarm It, Says The ‘Treasonous’ Government Must Fall,” by N. Mozes, MEMRI, August 28, 2025:

The Lebanese government’s historic decision on August 7, 2025 to disarm Hizbullah and the other militias in the country, and to restrict the possession of weapons to the Lebanese Army and official security forces, was met with fury by Hizbullah, which hurried to clarify that it would not relinquish its weapons even at the cost of sparking an internal conflict or civil war in Lebanon.

Hizbullah – which disputes the legality of the decision on the grounds that the Lebanese Constitution and the Taif Agreement both sanction its activity against Israel[1] – accuses Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and his government of treason and of succumbing to Israeli and American dictates. It calls to overthrow the government, although its representatives have not resigned from it and continue to hold their positions in it.[2]

In its messages to the public, Hizbullah characterizes its weapons as sacred and a senior Shi’ite cleric even referred to them as “the weapons of Allah.” Videos circulated by the organization on its media and social media platforms featured speeches by former Hizbullah officials, including  the organization’s former secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, which underlined the duty of jihad and the sanctity of the weapons, among them videos titled “My Weapons Are Too Sacred to Be Removed”[3] and  “We Shall Not Be Traitors and Shall Not Relinquish Our Weapons.”[4]

In an attempt to enlist maximum support from the Shi’ite public, Hizbullah officials describe the government’s decision as a blow to the entire Shi’ite sect, which must be opposed.

These officials also lent the conflict a religious-historical dimension by comparing the Lebanese government and Hizbullah’s political rivals to the second Umayyad caliph Yazid ibn Mu’awiya (Yazid I), who in Shi’ite Islam is an emblem of oppressive tyranny that must be fought, and promised to fight the government’s decision just as the Shi’ite Imam Hussein ibn Ali fought Yazid in the historic Battle of Karbala.[5]

Hizbullah’s patron Iran and other elements in the resistance axis – specifically the Houthi Ansar Allah movement in Yemen and the Iran-backed Shi’ite militias in Iraq – have come to Hizbullah’s defense. They attacked the Lebanese government and its decision, urged Hizbullah to oppose it and clarified that they would help it do so.

This report reviews Hizbullah’s responses to the Lebanese government’s decision to disarm it.

We Will Not Give Up Our Weapons; We Will Fight As We Fought In Karbala…