Lebanon’s prime minister said Saturday that Hezbollah terrorists south of the Litani River will soon be disarmed, a key requirement of Beirut’s ceasefire with Israel.
“Prime Minister Salam affirmed that the first phase of the weapons consolidation plan related to the area south of the Litani River is only days away from completion,” a statement from Nawaf Salam’s office said.
“The state is ready to move on to the second phase, namely confiscating weapons north of the Litani River, based on the plan prepared by the Lebanese army pursuant to a mandate from the government,” Salam added.
The U.S.-brokered ceasefire signed on Nov. 26 ended more than a year of fighting and requires the Iranian terrorist proxy to be disarmed, starting in areas adjacent to Israel, with the Lebanese army mandated to establish a monopoly over arms in the country.
Yisrael Beiteinu Party chief Avigdor Liberman told JNS on Monday, “This is simply nonsense, just fiction. [We’re] not even close to dismantling Hezbollah’s arsenal, not even in Southern Lebanon.
“I don’t know what intelligence [information] Lebanon’s prime minister has, but I trust the assessments of [Israel’s] defense establishment,” he added, speaking at a faction meeting of his party at the Knesset in Jerusalem.
Beirut, led by President Joseph Aoun and Salam, on Aug. 5 tasked the Lebanese army with formulating a plan to strip all non-state actors, including Hezbollah, of weapons south of the Litani River, around 19 miles from the Israeli border, by year’s end, and the Trump administration has given a Dec. 31 deadline for disarming Hezbollah.
Gen. Rodolphe Haykal, commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, agreed to document the military’s progress in disarming Hezbollah, during talks on Dec. 18 with international envoys in Paris, the French Foreign Ministry said, as Beirut seeks to head off expanded Israeli attacks.
Jerusalem has questioned the effectiveness of Lebanese efforts and warned it will act “as necessary” if Beirut fails to curb Hezbollah, which it accuses of violating the ceasefire by attempting to rebuild its terrorist forces.
The Israeli military has continuously acted against Hezbollah’s violations by attacking terrorists and terrorist infrastructure.
The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday that it struck two Hezbollah terrorists in the area of Yater in Southern Lebanon.
Jerusalem and Beirut are also engaging on the diplomatic track to ensure that Hezbollah is disarmed.
An Israeli official participated in a meeting in Naqoura, Lebanon, on Dec. 19 aimed at ensuring the disarmament of the group.
“During the meeting, ways to promote economic projects were discussed in order to underscore the mutual interest in removing the Hezbollah threat and ensuring sustainable security for residents on both sides of the border,” the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem said.
“The meeting is a continuation of the security dialogue aimed at ensuring the disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese army,” it added.
