Lebanon Bans Hezbollah Military Operations
In a surprising move, Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has issued a ban on all Hezbollah military and security operations. The decision follows a series of Hezbollah rocket attacks on Israel and marks a rare attempt by the Lebanese government to assert control over the Iran-backed group and avoid being pulled deeper into the widening regional war.
The Prime Minister's decree follows a barrage of rockets and drones launched by Hezbollah into northern Israel on March 2, 2026. Hezbollah claimed the attack on an Israeli missile defense site near Haifa was in retaliation for the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, in a joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign. The rockets resulted in no significant damage or injuries. In response to the Hezbollah attack, Israel launched extensive retaliatory airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs and southern Lebanon. These strikes resulted in at least 31 deaths and 149 injuries, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. The Israeli military has since initiated an "offensive campaign" against Hezbollah in Lebanon. The escalation is a direct spillover of a wider regional conflict that intensified on February 28, 2026, with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran. This has led to a series of retaliatory Iranian missile and drone attacks on U.S. bases and civilian sites in several Gulf countries, creating fears of a full-scale regional war. This ban represents the most forceful stance by the Lebanese state against Hezbollah's military autonomy to date. Past efforts to disarm the group, in line with agreements like the 1989 Taif Accord and UN Security Council Resolution 1701, have been unsuccessful. Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war, called for an area south of the Litani River to be free of any armed personnel other than the Lebanese army and UN forces. Enforcing the ban presents a significant challenge for the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). Hezbollah is widely considered to possess a more formidable arsenal than the national army, with its leader claiming to have 100,000 fighters in 2021. The LAF is seen as under-equipped and potentially unable to compel the heavily armed group to disarm. Prime Minister Salam has stated that "the decision of war and peace rests exclusively with the state" and has ordered the army to implement the cabinet's decision. The move has been described as an "irresponsible act" that endangers Lebanon by the Prime Minister himself, prior to the official ban.
