Hezbollah chief rejects disarmament as pressure on Lebanon grows

BEIRUT (Reuters) -Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Wednesday that calls for the Iran-aligned militant group's disarmament served only Israel, as the United States ramps up pressure for steps to remove its arsenal. "Those who call for submitting arms practically demand submitting them to Israel ... We will not submit to Israel," Qassem said in a televised address. Hezbollah emerged badly damaged from a war with Israel last year that eliminated most of the group's leadership, killed thousands of its fighters and left tens of thousands of its supporters displaced from their destroyed homes.