The deputy head of Hezbollah’s political council, Mahmoud Qmati, said Monday that “the Lebanese government will not be able to remove Hezbollah’s arms.”

Hezbollah supporters have attacked Finance Minister Yassine Jaber of the Amal Movement on social media for saying the monopoly of arms in the hand of the state is one of the current priorities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has noted that what is currently happening in Lebanon is due to Israel’s war on Hezbollah last year.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday toured several majority-Christian border towns in south Lebanon, where he called for peace rather than war.

The head of Hezbollah’s Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc, MP Mohammad Raad, has warned that surrendering the group’s weapons would be equivalent to “surrendering one’s honor.”

MP Ali al-Meqdad of Hezbollah’s Loyalty to Resistance bloc said “Lebanon should be protected by all its components and segments and by its resistance and army, which they want to put today in the face of the resistance.”

MP Amin Sherri of Hezbollah’s Loyalty to Resistance bloc said his party “will deal with what the government does according to the step by step principle,” adding that Hezbollah “objected to the U.S. paper because it reflects Israel’s goals.”

The Lebanese government on Thursday endorsed the “objectives” of the U.S. paper presented by U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, despite a walkout by the ministers of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement.

An Israeli airstrike on eastern Lebanon killed six people, including a senior member of a Palestinian group and his bodyguard as they were on their way to Syria, news reports and his group said Friday.

The Thursday afternoon airstrike near the Lebanese border crossing of Masnaa killed Mohammed Wishah, a member of the central committee of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the group said in a statement.

Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Jassem Mohamed Al-Budaiwi, welcomed Friday a decision by the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah, describing it as an important step towards sovereignty and stability.

Budaiwi said the decision will significantly contribute to enhancing the trust of the international community and multilateral partners, paving the way for a more attractive environment for investment, including in the private sector.