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<\/a><\/p>\nPublished On 2 Mar 20262 Mar 2026<\/p>\n
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Lebanon\u2019s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has issued a statement saying Hezbollah\u2019s military and security activities are banned, hours after Israel responded to the Iran-linked group\u2019s rocket and drone attacks by launching air raids on southern Beirut.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe announce a ban on Hezbollah\u2019s military activities and restrict its role to the political sphere,\u201d Nawaf said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe declare our rejection of any military or security operations launched from Lebanese territory outside the framework of legitimate institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n
The prime minister said all Hezbollah activities were \u201cillegal\u201d and called upon the security forces to \u201cprevent any attacks originating from Lebanese territory\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe declare our commitment to the cessation of hostilities and the resumption of negotiations,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The Iran-allied Lebanese armed group said earlier on Monday that its attack was in retaliation for the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei<\/a>, \u201cin defence of Lebanon and its people\u201d and \u201cin response to the repeated Israeli aggressions\u201d.<\/p>\n Israel responded by bombing Lebanon\u2019s capital, Beirut, and killing more than 30 people and injuring 149, according to the state-run National News Agency.<\/p>\n Hezbollah, which operates independently from the Lebanese government, has been weakened by the 2024 war, which saw\u00a0Israel kill<\/a> most of the group\u2019s military and political leaders.<\/p>\n Under growing pressure from the United States and Israel, Lebanese authorities agreed to disarm Hezbollah<\/a>, which dismissed the plan as a US-Israeli ploy and refused to surrender weapons north of the Litani River. The group maintained that a ceasefire signed in November 2024 applied to disarmament exclusively south of the waterway.<\/p>\n Last month, the Lebanese government said its military would need at least four months<\/a> to complete the second phase of its plan to dismantle Hezbollah\u2019s arsenals in the country\u2019s south. The second phase concerns the area between the Litani and the Awali rivers, about 40km (25 miles) south of Beirut.<\/p>\n