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,

The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group on Friday vowed not to disarm, saying last week's decision by the national government to remove the Iran-backed group's weapons by the end of the year serves Israel’s interests.

Hezbollah and Iran have emerged bruised from separate conflicts with Israel in November and June, respectively. Now, Beirut’s instruction for Hezbollah to disarm risks further undermining the relevance of the group at a critical time, analysts said.