Arms have been central to Hezbollah's doctrine since it was founded by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to fight Israeli forces who invaded Lebanon in 1982, at the height of the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war. Tensions over the Shi'ite Muslim group's arsenal sparked another, brief civil conflict in 2008.

Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem has reaffirmed the group’s refusal to disarm while Israel continues its airstrikes and occupies parts of southern Lebanon.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon has no plans to have normal relations with Israel at the present time, and Beirut’s main aim is to reach a “state of no war” with its southern neighbor, the country’s president said Friday.