Lebanese Cabinet endorses army strategy to curb Hezbollah arms, supporters vow resistance

Beirut, Sep 6 (IANS) Lebanon's government has endorsed an army plan to disarm Hezbollah and place all weapons under state control, media reported.

Information Minister Paul Morcos said on Friday after a Cabinet meeting that Ministers reviewed the army's proposal and approved it, but decided to keep details and related discussions confidential, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Cabinet had earlier tasked the army with drafting a disarmament strategy focused on Hezbollah -- a move rejected by the group and its ally, the Amal Movement.

During Friday's session, five Hezbollah and Amal ministers walked out in protest.

Morcos said the army would begin implementing the plan within its available logistical, financial, and human resources, and would submit monthly progress reports to the Cabinet.

He added that Lebanon remained committed to the current ceasefire with Israel, accusing Israel of repeated violations.

"Israel, like Lebanon, has clear obligations" under the agreement, Morcos said.

"However, its continued violations constitute evidence of its reneging on these obligations and seriously threaten regional security and stability."

Under the US-brokered ceasefire, Hezbollah and Israel were both required to withdraw from south Lebanon, though Israel has kept forces in several areas it deems strategic.

Israel continues to conduct strikes across Lebanon in response to what it says are ceasefire violations.

Hezbollah supporters called for mass demonstrations following the Cabinet's decision, vowing to resist any effort to hand over the group's weapons.

"We will not accept the disarmament of the weapons that defended the homeland," they said in a statement.

The army deployed extra units in several areas amid concerns of unrest.

Hezbollah's military autonomy remains a deeply divisive issue in Lebanese politics.

Senior Hezbollah figures, including the current leader Naim Qassem, have repeatedly dismissed disarmament calls as unrealistic and detrimental to Lebanon's security, saying such efforts only serve Israeli interests.

Israel has said its strikes aim to prevent Hezbollah from rearming and to protect residents of its northern border area, and will withdraw from sites in Lebanon that its troops still occupy if Hezbollah lays down its weapons. But Hezbollah has rejected any move to dismantle its arsenal.

Calls for Hezbollah’s disarmament have taken centre stage in Lebanon since the terror group sustained heavy losses in a yearlong conflict with Israel. The results of that war, which ended last November, upended a power balance that had long been dominated by the Shia Muslim group.

Since then, Hezbollah has been under increasing domestic and international pressure to give up its remaining arsenal, including from Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who, under pressure from the US, has pushed for the terror group to disarm.

After the Lebanese government’s decision in August to pursue a disarmament plan, Hezbollah accused the government of caving to American and Israeli pressure and said it would “treat this decision as if it does not exist".

Since the ceasefire, the Lebanese army has regularly collected caches of weapons and ammunition from the area south of the Litani River, from which Hezbollah has largely withdrawn, but the group's heavier missiles and drones have remained hidden.

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah erupted when the Iranian-backed terror group began launching rockets at northern Israel in support of Hamas after it led the October 7 massacre in southern Israel that killed nearly 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage to Gaza.

It eventually escalated into open war between Israel and Hezbollah by September 2024, which ended with a ceasefire at the end of November that year.

--IANS

int/khz