Convincing Hezbollah to give up its weapons is the job of the Lebanese government, and the United States is not interested in pressuring anybody, the US special envoy for Syrian affairs, Tom Barrack, has told Al Jazeera.

Barrack’s comments come a day after Hezbollah’s leader, Naim Qassem, once again rejected the Lebanese government’s attempts for the group to disarm, which was one of the key parts of the November ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.

“We will never abandon our weapons, nor will we relinquish them,” Naim said on Saturday, adding that Hezbollah would continue to “confront any project that serves Israel”. Hezbollah maintains that the disarmament plan approved by the Lebanese government only serves Israel’s interests.

The US and its closest regional ally, Israel, have been

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