Israeli military vehicles at the Israel-Lebanon border, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, on March 2, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Hezbollah condemned on Monday (March 2, 2026) the Lebanese government’s decision to ban its military activities, while Israel carried out retaliatory strikes in response to rockets fired by the Iran-backed group.
In a statement, Mohammed Raad, the head of the group’s Parliamentary bloc, condemned Beirut’s “swaggering decisions”, saying that “the Lebanese were expecting a decision rejecting the (Israeli) aggression”.
Banning of Hezbollah’s military and security activity
Lebanon’s government on Monday (March 2, 2026) took the unprecedented step of banning Hezbollah’s military and security activity, prompting the Iran-backed group to lash out at the decision.
Hezbollah is represented in both the government and Parliament, and the move came hours after it announced it had launched rockets and drones towards Israel early on Monday to avenge the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in U.S.-Israeli attacks.
Israel began bombarding Beirut’s southern suburbs and dozens of villages in south Lebanon, vowing to make the group pay a “heavy price”.
Israeli attack on Lebanon
The strikes killed at least 52 people and wounded at least 154, according to the Lebanese government.
The Israeli military later said it had “completed a broad wave of strikes on Hezbollah terrorist organisation targets in southern Lebanon”.
“As part of the strikes, more than 70 weapons storage facilities, launch sites, and missile launchers” were hit, it said.
Following an emergency cabinet meeting earlier Monday (March 2, 2026), Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said: “The Lebanese state declares its absolute and unequivocal rejection of any military or security actions launched from Lebanese territory outside the framework of its legitimate institutions.
“This necessitates the immediate prohibition of all of Hezbollah’s security and military activities, considering them to be outside the law, and obliging it to hand over its weapons”.
Mr. Salam had ordered the military and security agencies to take “immediate measures” to implement the cabinet decision and prevent “any military operation or the launching of missiles or drones from Lebanese territory”.
Arrest order
Justice Minister Adel Nassar announced in a post on X that the judicial authorities had tasked “security agencies with immediately arresting those who launched the rockets and their instigators”.
A source close to the Lebanese government reported that two Ministers from the Amal Movement, Hezbollah’s fellow Shiite party and a key ally, and one Minister from the group itself had approved the cabinet’s decision.
Published – March 03, 2026 12:22 am IST
