Lebanon bans Hezbollah military activities after rocket fire on Israel
The Lebanese government on Monday announced a total and immediate ban on Hezbollah's military and security activities, after overnight rocket fire on Israel prompted air strikes that killed 31 people in Lebanon.
Following a cabinet meeting, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called on the group to hand over its “illegal” weapons to the state and remain a political party.
Salam urged the security forces to prevent any military action by Hezbollah and to arrest violators.
"The army must continue to implement its plan" to disarm armed groups "by all means possible," he said, reiterating that decisions of war and peace rest solely with the state.
Responding to the government's decision, senior Hezbollah official Mohammed Raad said the group understood Lebanon's right to decide on war or peace, but does not see an obligation to impose harsh decisions on those against the "occupation".
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Raad, the head of the group's parliamentary bloc, condemned Beirut's "swaggering decisions", saying that "the Lebanese were expecting a decision rejecting the (Israeli) aggression".
Hezbollah launched rocket and drone strikes on northern Israel “in revenge for the blood” of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a joint US-Israeli operation on Tehran on Saturday.
The Israeli military responded with a series of air raids on Dahyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, and across south Lebanon overnight Monday.
On Monday morning, the Israeli military again carried out air raids on Dahiyeh, several towns in southern Lebanon, and the Beqaa Valley in the east. Israel said it intended to intensify its bombing campaign.
Lebanon’s health ministry reported a toll of 31 killed and 149 wounded in the Israeli strikes. Twenty of those killed and 91 wounded were in Beirut, with 11 killed and 58 wounded in the south.
Influential parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a longtime ally of Hezbollah whom its secretary-general Naim Qassem refers to as “big brother”, has approved the decision taken by the government, two sources close to Berri told Middle East Eye.
The sources said Berri, who heads the Amal party, ordered his ministers in the government not to object to the ban or voice any opposition.
They added that the speaker’s position changed because Hezbollah had previously given him several reassurances that it would not take part in a war involving Iran, a point he had personally conveyed to diplomatic channels.
In other developments, Nicosia said a British military base in Cyprus was targeted by an Iranian-made drone, with an official Cypriot source, cited by Reuters, saying that "all indications" suggested that the attack was launched by Hezbollah.
The source, cited by Reuters, did not provide further details. The attack came after London agreed to a US request to use British military bases for "specific and limited defensive purpose".
Mass exodus
After the initial strikes on Beirut, Israel issued expulsion warnings in the early hours of the morning to residents of more than 50 towns and villages in Lebanon’s south and east.
“For your safety, evacuate your homes immediately and move at least 1,000 metres away from your village to open areas,” army spokesperson Ella Waweya said in a statement on X.
The bombardment triggered a mass exodus from both Dahiyeh and south Lebanon, with families fleeing their homes with few belongings.
Highways out of Beirut’s suburbs were gridlocked with cars and motorcycles, while some residents fled on foot. In the south, motorists drove north along both sides of the highway towards Beirut to bypass heavy traffic.
Dozens of schools opened to shelter displaced people. Some families with nowhere else to go were seen sitting on the streets of central Beirut and the seafront area, while others remained in their homes in Dahiyeh as they searched for flats to rent elsewhere, Lebanese newspaper L'Orient Today reported.
Lebanon is still reeling from 2024’s war with Israel, which caused widespread destruction and a high civilian death toll.
The conflict also severely weakened Hezbollah’s leadership and degraded its military capabilities, with most of its senior commanders killed, including its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Hezbollah “will pay dearly for its attacks on Israel” and that Qassem, “who decided to attack under pressure from Iran, is now a target to be eliminated”.
Since a 2024 ceasefire, Israel has carried out regular strikes in Lebanon, killing hundreds of people, including Hezbollah members and civilians, and has continued to occupy parts of the south.
On Monday, Israel bolstered its military presence on its side of the border with Lebanon but said there are no immediate plans for a ground invasion of its neighbour.
Hezbollah’s overnight operation marked the first time the group claimed responsibility for an attack on Israel since the ceasefire. It said it had targeted an Israeli army site south of Haifa “with a barrage of high-quality missiles and a swarm of drones”.
The Israeli military said the projectiles fired from Lebanon fell in open areas, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The escalation comes amid weeks of efforts by the Lebanese government to prevent Hezbollah from being drawn into any broader war involving Iran.
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