The Lebanese government on Thursday approved a US proposal that would see the disarmament of extremist groups from the country’s south and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Tensions are rising in Lebanon amid Hezbollah’s increased domestic and international pressure to abandon the remaining Arsenal after the bruises with Israel, which ended in a US-brokered ceasefire last November.
Hezbollah itself doubled its refusal to disarm.
Four Shia ministers left before the vote. They included members of the Hezbollah parliamentary bloc and the Allied Amal Party, as well as independent Shiite MP Fadi Makki.
“We tried to close the gap and bring the perspective closer to all involved, but I didn’t succeed,” Macki said in a post on X.
He said he decided to withdraw from the meeting after the other Shia pastors left.
“Without a critical element from the discussion, we would not have been responsible for making such a critical decision,” he said.
Plans to disarm Hezbollah
The Lebanese government on Tuesday called on the national military to prepare plans for state agencies to have arms by the end of the year.
After the Cabinet meeting, Hezbollah accused the government of falling under pressure from the US and Israel, saying “it will treat this decision as if it does not exist.”
Information Minister Paul Mokos later said the Cabinet voted to adopt a list of general goals set out in the proposal submitted by US envoy Tom Barrack for Lebanese officials.
They were said to be “a gradual end of the armed existence of all non-state actors, including Hezbollah on all Lebanese territory,” the withdrawal of the Southern Lebanese forces of Israel, the halt of Israeli airstrikes, the release of Lebanese prisoners held in Israel, and even the Lebanese Israeli border, where Israeli borders still exist.
Details of the US proposal are still under discussion, Molcos added.
Hezbollah officials said the group would not discuss abandoning the remaining Arsenal until Israel occupys within Lebanon and withdraws from five hills that halt almost daily airstrikes.
Since the war ended in November, strikes have killed or wounded hundreds of people.
While the cabinet meeting is still underway, Israel’s strike on roads across Lebanon’s main border with Syria has killed five people and injured 10 others, the Lebanese health ministry said.
There were no immediate comments from Israel.
Israel accused Hezbollah of trying to rebuild its military capabilities and said it was protecting its borders. Since the ceasefire, Hezbollah has been claiming responsibility for one attack that crosses the border.
Hezbollah is ideologically aligned with Gaza-based extremist group Hamas, saying it is in solidarity with the Palestinians, saying it began firing in Israel the day after the war on the strip began.
International efforts for peace
Andrea Tennenti, a spokesman for Lebanon’s United Nations Peacekeeping Mission (UNIFIL), said peacekeeping forces recently found “a vast network of enhanced tunnels” in various parts of southern Lebanon.
“It includes several bunkers, cannons, multiple rocket launchers, hundreds of shells and rockets, anti-tank mines and other explosive devices,” he said.
Tenenti did not specify the tunnel and the group behind the arm.
Members of the US Congress said that if the Lebanese Army claims it has full control of the country, Washington urges Israel to withdraw from everything in southern Lebanon.
“We will push hard to make sure I work with Israel in exchange for the Lebanese army, which demonstrates its ability to secure all Lebanon — and this is what I will work with the Israelis,” Darrell Issa said after meeting with Beirut President Joseph Orn.
He did not specify whether the US would ask Israel to begin withdrawing its troops from the territory occupied in southern Lebanon before or after Hezbollah abandoned its arms.
Issa, the Lebanese origin, said the United States must “help all neighbors realize that making decisions is the exclusive right of the Lebanese military.”
Additional sources •AP