Last week, the governments of Lebanon and Israel agreed to a new U.S.-brokered ceasefire that would theoretically bring calm to northern Israel, which has been targeted by Hezbollah rockets since March, and southern Lebanon, where Israeli troops have taken positions to root out Hezbollah. Then on Thursday, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem announced that Hezbollah would not abide by the latest ceasefire attempt. He rejected U.S. attempts at a ceasefire and pledged that “As long as the occupation exists, the resistance will continue.”

Hezbollah has long acted as a spoiler in Lebanon-Israel relations, sparking war and blocking the Lebanese government from fully governing over Lebanon. It is not new ground to say that Hezbollah long ago set itself up as a state within a state in Lebanon. Its small but powerful presence in the Lebanese government has stalled elections and made the Lebanese army impotent, despite international rulings (such as U.N. Resolution 1701) and domestic agreements calling for Hezbollah’s disarmament.

After the 2006 war, by virtue of having survived and fighting Israel to a U.N.-imposed ceasefire, Hezbollah and its then-leader, Hassan Nasrallah, gained an air of impenetrability that allowed it to steamroll over the Lebanese government. For years, Hezbollah was the most powerful military force in Lebanon. The army largely stood by as Hezbollah spread throughout southern Lebanon and used the territory as a base for launching rockets and terror attacks on Israel and the world. That all changed in 2023 after Nasrallah’s death in an Israeli airstrike, which showed the vulnerability of Hezbollah’s leadership structure and that Israel was willing to risk a wider war to strike a devastating blow to the terror group. That strike shattered Hezbollah’s perceived invulnerability, both internationally and domestically.

Since his appointment in February 2025, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has worked with President Joseph Aoun to empower the Lebanese Armed Forces to disarm Hezbollah, particularly south of the Litani River, the boundary Hezbollah was supposed to withdraw to after the 2006 war with Israel under U.N. Resolution 1701. Aoun has called Hezbollah’s disarmament necessary to eliminate Israel’s excuse for retaliating against Lebanon. Hezbollah and its political allies protested over the past year, but Aoun and Salam pushed forward. On December 20, 2025, Salam announced that Lebanon was nearing completion of its disarmament of the area south of the Litani River. In late December, Qassem rejected full disarmament, which he said “would mean taking away the power of the resistance.” He accused the Lebanese government of succumbing to “an American-Israeli demand” that is not in the country’s “best interest.”

Aoun and Salam remained undeterred, though that is not to say they have been entirely successful, as evidenced by Hezbollah’s continued rocket fire on Israel. However, the effort is noticeable and a shift in Lebanese politics, which have long been held captive to Hezbollah’s whims.

When the war between Iran and the United States and Israel started on February 28, Hezbollah immediately declared it would avenge the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and subsequently entered the war between Iran and the United States and Israel. Lebanese leaders warned Hezbollah against dragging the country into another war. And on March 2, in its most significant step ever against Hezbollah, Lebanon banned all of Hezbollah’s military (i.e., terrorist) activities. The government also ordered the Lebanese army to prevent Hezbollah attacks on Israel. Prime Minister Salam accused Hezbollah and its patron, Iran, of pulling Lebanon into their war with Israel. In April, Israel and Lebanon engaged in direct negotiations for the first time in decades and the subject of Hezbollah’s disarmament remains a point of discussion in continuing negotiations.

Lebanon still has a long way to go, but it is moving in the right direction. More than 30 countries have designated Hezbollah in one form or another as a terrorist group, with more joining their ranks and recognizing that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization that has on its hands the blood of thousands of Americans, Israelis, Europeans, Argentinians, and Lebanese. In March, President Trump issued a directive to the State Department to encourage U.S. allies to blacklist Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp. Since then, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and Trinidad and Tobago have designated Hezbollah.

This growing move against Hezbollah should be encouraged, especially as Lebanon struggles to confront it. The Lebanese government needs international support to help it overcome decades of Hezbollah’s military and political dominance. As more countries designate Hezbollah, particularly in central and South America, which the terror outfit has long used as a base for weapons and drug smuggling, Hezbollah will find its influence and operational abilities more and more limited.

However, there remains a loophole, perpetuated largely by the European Union. Despite multiple European countries designating Hezbollah as a terrorist group, the European Union continues to designate only Hezbollah’s so-called military wing, creating an artificial delineation between Hezbollah’s purported military and political wings, designating only half of the terror group. In recent years, individual European nations have taken the step of designating Hezbollah in its entirety, most notably the United Kingdom in 2019 and Germany in 2020. This past March, Iceland, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Liechtenstein all took steps to designate Hezbollah.

The EU designated Hezbollah in 2013 because of its role in supporting Bashar al-Assad’s regime in his country’s civil war. However, it designated only Hezbollah’s so-called military wing. Over the years, EU officials have expressed concern that designating Hezbollah in its entirety would alienate the Lebanese government, which includes Hezbollah. The United States, Israel, and even Hezbollah’s own leadership have repeatedly stated that there is no such division between Hezbollah’s political and military forces. Hezbollah’s politicians and military commanders all answer to Hezbollah’s leadership council and secretary-general, which in turn answer to Iran.

In March, the United States sanctioned a Hezbollah financing network that included individuals based in Lebanon, Syria, Poland, Slovenia, Qatar, and Canada. Despite these steps, a March report by the Documentation Center Political Islam found that Hezbollah financial networks continue raising and laundering hundreds of millions of dollars in Europe. The EU’s false distinction bestows legitimacy on Hezbollah that it does not deserve, while allowing Hezbollah and its supporters to continue operating within the European Union under the guise of political activism. Which is why all legal loopholes that allow Hezbollah to operate must be immediately closed.

President Trump’s March directive urges the international community to action against Hezbollah. And now is the best time for the global community to close its ranks around and increase pressure on Hezbollah as the group faces increasing domestic pressure to disarm. The European Union definitively declaring Hezbollah in its entirety to be a terrorist organization would further limit Hezbollah’s operations abroad while demonstrating support for Lebanon’s attempt to throw off the shackle of Iran’s terrorist proxy.