No Deal on Hezbollah Arms

Walid Jumblatt’s call for dialogue with Hezbollah on the basis that arms be held exclusively by the state has reignited debate over the usefulness of dialogue forums. Earlier efforts—from the 2006 dialogue to the 2012 Baabda Declaration—had failed to resolve the issue of weapons. Fares Saeed argued that these dialogues had entrenched the party’s influence and delayed the restoration of the state’s authority over decision-making. Researcher Hayat al-Hariri, meanwhile, said that discussing a defence strategy outside state institutions had served as a way to buy time, and that what was needed were practical steps to transfer military decision-making to Lebanese institutions. In August 2025, the government tasked the army with drawing up a plan to ensure that arms were held exclusively by the state. Then, in March 2026, it banned the party’s military and security activities. Its secretary-general, Naim Qassem, announced his readiness to cooperate, provided that the Constitution and the laws were respected, while rejecting external dictates.

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