Naim Kassem, leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group, said the government should have instead “spread its authority and evicted Israel from Lebanon.”

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem issued a warning to the Lebanese government against moving forward with its plan to disarm the Iran-backed militant group,

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem on Friday accused Lebanon’s government of “handing” the country to Israel by pushing for the group’s disarmament, warning it would fight to keep its weapons. Qassem spoke in a televised address after meeting Iran’s top security chief Ali Larijani,