🇱🇧 Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has made a direct and bold call for exclusive state control over arms in Lebanon, referencing the Taif Agreement as the foundational framework that must be fully implemented.

“Weapons must be exclusively in the hands of the state,” Salam stated, acknowledging the country’s longstanding failure to enforce this principle since the 1989 Taif Accord, which officially ended Lebanon’s civil war. He emphasized that the restoration of state authority hinges on both completing the implementation of the agreement and correcting distortions born from years of misapplication and parallel power structures.

This message is seen as a clear challenge to non-state armed groups, notably Hezbollah, which maintains a significant arsenal outside state control. With tensions escalating across the Israeli-Lebanese border and internal pressure mounting for reform, Salam’s remarks reflect a push toward reasserting sovereignty and institutional integrity.

Whether his stance will translate into political or legislative action remains uncertain, especially amid Lebanon’s deep economic and governance crises. But the statement marks a rare moment of clarity from a Lebanese premier on the urgent need to reestablish the monopoly of violence under legitimate state authority.