Kataeb MP Nadim Gemayel on Friday lashed back at Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem's defiant remarks, emphasizing the need for the government to assert control over armed groups in the country.

“There can be no life for Lebanon as long as your weapons continue to operate outside State authority,” Gemayel said. “The government must take decisive action.”

In a speech delivered earlier, Qassem raised the spectre of civil war with a warning there would be "no life" in Lebanon if the government sought to disarm Hezbollah. He accused the Lebanese government of "handing" the country to Israel by pushing for the group's disarmament, warning it would fight to keep its weapons.