Lebanon's government demands Hezbollah disarm, orders army to prevent rocket attacks on Israel

The Lebanese government took the extraordinary step of demanding Hezbollah disarm and ordered the Lebanese Army to prevent the Iran-backed militant group from attacking Israel, the Times of Israel reported. The demand — issued as Israeli forces launched a ground incursion into southern Lebanon and strikes on Beirut killed 31 people and injured 149 — represents a fundamental rupture in Lebanese political dynamics. For years, Lebanon's fragile government had tacitly tolerated Hezbollah's parallel military state under the slogan of 'the army, the people, and the resistance.' The new demand to disarm follows the collapse of Hezbollah's political cover following Iran's strategic setbacks. The Lebanese government has simultaneously been in contact with Israeli military officials about Israeli airstrike evacuation orders, seeking to protect civilian infrastructure. However, Hezbollah shows no signs of complying with the government's demands — it continued firing rockets and drones at Israeli targets on March 3. The Lebanese Army has historically avoided direct confrontation with Hezbollah. Separately, an overnight IDF strike in southern Beirut killed Adham al-Othman, the commander of Palestinian Islamic Jihad's al-Quds Brigades in Lebanon — another precision targeted killing.