IDF: Hezbollah arms, launchers, missiles confiscated

The IDF’s 769th “Hiram” Brigade discovered and confiscated a significant cache of Hezbollah weapons during operations in Southern Lebanon, the army said on Friday.

Rocket launchers, mortar shells, rocket-propelled grenades, shoulder-launched missiles and explosive devices were located, along with anti-tank firing positions and hidden weapons.

Troops also found a weapons storage facility containing dozens of shoulder-launched missiles, explosive charges and extensive military equipment.

“The IDF continues to expand its achievements, operating in accordance with the understandings between Israel and Lebanon while maintaining the terms of the ceasefire,” the statement said. “IDF troops are deployed across Southern Lebanon and will act against any threat to the State of Israel and its citizens.”

Meanwhile, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced on Friday that the Lebanese Army will initiate efforts to disarm Hezbollah, focusing on the southern Litani region. He emphasized that this marks a new phase of the army’s deployment and authority across Lebanon.

On Thursday, the parliament in Beirut elected Lebanon’s army chief Joseph Aoun as president, eliciting a congratulatory response from U.S. President Joe Biden.

“President Aoun has my confidence,” Biden said on Thursday. “I believe strongly he is the right leader for this time.”

Noting that Aoun’s election “comes just six weeks after the United States secured an end to the hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel,” Biden said the new head of state “will provide critical leadership as Lebanon and Israel fully implement that cessation of hostilities and as hundreds of thousands of people return to their homes and Lebanon recovers and rebuilds.”

The Lebanese people, he continued, have suffered for more than two years from a devastating war and continuing financial crisis, as well as the absence of national leadership.

“Through their elected parliamentarians, the people of Lebanon have exercised their democratic right to choose their own future,” Biden said. “They have chosen a path aligned with peace, security, sovereignty and reconstruction in partnership with the international community. And the United States will support them as they walk that path.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar congratulated Aoun and expressed hope “that this choice will contribute towards stability, a better future for Lebanon and its people and to good neighborly relations.”