Nawaf Salam says all Hezbollah actions are ‘unlawful’ after the group launched assaults on Israel from Lebanon.
Printed On 2 Mar 2026
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has issued a press release saying Hezbollah’s navy and safety actions are banned, hours after Israel responded to the Iran-linked group’s rocket and drone assaults by launching air raids on southern Beirut.
“We announce a ban on Hezbollah’s navy actions and limit its function to the political sphere,” Nawaf mentioned.
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“We declare our rejection of any navy or safety operations launched from Lebanese territory exterior the framework of reputable establishments.”
The prime minister mentioned all Hezbollah actions had been “unlawful” and known as upon the safety forces to “stop any assaults originating from Lebanese territory”.
“We declare our dedication to the cessation of hostilities and the resumption of negotiations,” he added.
The Iran-allied Lebanese armed group mentioned earlier on Monday that its assault was in retaliation for the killing of Iranian Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “in defence of Lebanon and its folks” and “in response to the repeated Israeli aggressions”.
Israel responded by bombing Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, and killing greater than 30 folks and injuring 149, in accordance with the state-run Nationwide Information Company.
Hezbollah, which operates independently from the Lebanese authorities, has been weakened by the 2024 struggle, which noticed Israel kill a lot of the group’s navy and political leaders.
Beneath rising stress from the USA and Israel, Lebanese authorities agreed to disarm Hezbollah, which dismissed the plan as a US-Israeli ploy and refused to give up weapons north of the Litani River. The group maintained {that a} ceasefire signed in November 2024 utilized to disarmament completely south of the waterway.
Final month, the Lebanese authorities mentioned its navy would want at the least 4 months to finish the second section of its plan to dismantle Hezbollah’s arsenals within the nation’s south. The second section issues the world between the Litani and the Awali rivers, about 40km (25 miles) south of Beirut.
It introduced in January that it had accomplished the primary section of its five-stage plan, protecting the world between the Litani and the nation’s southern border with Israel.
The navy escalation between Israel and Hezbollah might deepen the disaster in Lebanon, which has been affected by financial and political woes for years.
Earlier on Monday, Salam mentioned the Hezbollah assault was “an irresponsible and suspicious act that jeopardises Lebanon’s safety and security and supplies Israel with pretexts to proceed its aggression”.
Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, mentioned a humanitarian disaster was within the making as lots of of 1000’s of individuals fled from southern Lebanon and the capital’s southern suburbs.
“That is a part of Israel’s technique to punish the supporters of Hezbollah and those that stay in areas below Hezbollah’s affect,” she mentioned.
Khodr added that Israel’s goal was to “flip them in opposition to the group and blame it for escalating what had been a simmering battle”.
