It never ceases to amaze me how the Lebanese never seem to have enough of discord and wars. Their common memory of the last 50 years ought to usher them all away from more wars and bloodshed that benefit no one and only waste Lebanese lives and properties and the people’s independence.

The sight of Lebanese rushing with their belongings and driving away from south Lebanon, the scene of Israeli reprisals, has been a regular occurrence for as long as I have lived. The sight of cars full of families — old and young, women and children — fleeing areas where hostilities were expected, like Beirut’s southern suburb or various towns south of the Litani River, is heart-wrenching and painful for anyone to see, let alone experience.

But the leadership of the now extremely weakened Hezbollah has once again done a disservice to Lebanon — a disservice to the people and the long-term prospects of peace and stability for a country that has barely started the job of rebuilding the villages and towns destroyed during the last Hezbollah-Israel war in 2024. That war clipped the wings of an armed group that never shies away from insisting it is trained, armed and led by no other than Iran’s widely proscribed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

I am also amazed at the futility of some people, who are ready to sacrifice their country and its prosperity for a cause that is unlikely to yield any return for them either morally or materially. They simply seek to avenge the killing of a religious leader in Iran. And after the dust settles, they will once again raise their voices and make threats, complaining about the state’s failure and the government’s inadequate help. But the people are only suffering as a result of yet another Israeli retribution against a militia that took it upon itself to support Iran in its long-lasting showdown with the US and Israel.

Lebanon’s government is right to finally ban all military activities by Hezbollah after it opened fire on Israel following the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Many in Lebanon feel that, although it is a risky move, the government’s decision is long overdue. It underlines the dramatic shift in Lebanon’s power balance since the once-dominant Hezbollah was pummeled by Israel in the two-month war of October and November 2024. That conflict led to the reshaping of politics in a country that suffered civil conflict from 1975 to 1990.

It does not matter if it is true that Hezbollah’s military wing broke the political will of the party and the undertakings it made to the government that it would not interfere in the current crisis with Iran. It is also irrelevant if this is seen as a rare sign of division or a split within Hezbollah, since the militia has previously broken such promises.

The one-year-old rule of President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam — the first government in 30 years to be free, to a great extent, of direct Syrian or Iranian influence — would not have been able to take such a historic and bold step as it did when on Monday it banned Hezbollah’s military activities. This move was craved by more than 80 percent of the Lebanese: those that do not see the US and Israel versus Iran confrontation as being their own problem and that view Hezbollah’s response as not being in Lebanon’s interests. Regardless of the outcome of the conflict, it is unlikely to pay Lebanon any dividends, let alone provide money for reconstruction or compensation for the families affected by the strikes.

Salam could not have spelled it out any better. In a statement issued after a Cabinet meeting, he said Hezbollah’s attack showed disregard for “the will of the majority of Lebanese” and ‌that Lebanon rejected being dragged into the regional conflict. He went on to say that the Lebanese state rejected ‌any military actions launched from Lebanon “outside the framework of its legitimate institutions and affirmed ​that the decision of war and peace is exclusively in the Lebanese government’s hands.”

Up to now, Salam’s government has been treading carefully to try and get Hezbollah to agree to disarm. However, the PM’s latest statement leaves no doubt that times have changed, as it clearly stated that Hezbollah’s decision to attack Israel cannot be tolerated and it “necessitates the immediate prohibition of all Hezbollah’s security and military activities, considering them to be outside the law, and obliging it to ‌hand over its weapons.”

One would hope that 2026 is not destined to be like 2008, as many observers fear. In 2008, the Lebanese government tried to outlaw Hezbollah’s telecommunications network and, as a result, the group’s fighters, who had long claimed that their weapons were destined to resist Israel, turned their guns on Lebanon in order to take control of Beirut.

The implementation of Monday’s historic decision will not be easy, as clashes could be on the cards, even if the Lebanese army is trying its best to avoid a confrontation with Hezbollah. Since 2024, the Iran-aligned party has not been the potent machine it used to be. As well as Israel’s attacks, it also lost its supply route through Syria when Ahmad Al-Sharaa ousted the regime of Bashar Assad, a long-term patron and mentor of Hezbollah.

Unfortunately, the people from areas once seen as Hezbollah strongholds, which bore the brunt of the last Israel-Hezbollah confrontation in 2024, are likely to continue to have to sleep on roads and in alleyways for as long as Hezbollah continues to put Iran’s interests and its many avoidable wars first. It is time for the Lebanese to say that enough is enough and speak up in favor of a peaceful life that does not hinge on what Iran asks them to do. Most Lebanese do not want a war to avenge the Iranian leader or anyone else — they simply want to live in peace and rebuild their country. Could Hezbollah hear them this time?

Mohamed Chebaro is a British-Lebanese journalist with more than 25 years’ experience covering war, terrorism, defense, current affairs and diplomacy.

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