Lebanese President Steps Up Calls for Hezbollah to Disarm

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun stepped up his calls for Hezbollah to disarm on Thursday, suggesting failure to do so would give Israel an excuse to continue attacks and saying the issue would be on the agenda of a cabinet meeting next week.

The comments reflect mounting pressure over the issue of Hezbollah‘s arms, which has loomed over Lebanon since the Iran-backed terrorist group was pummeled in a war with Israel last year. Washington wants Hezbollah disarmed – a demand echoed by the Beirut government as it aims to establish a monopoly on weapons.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said in a televised speech on Wednesday that calls for its disarmament served only Israel.

The Israeli military said in a statement it had on Thursday struck infrastructure used to produce and store weapons in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, as well as in the south of the country, including an explosives manufacturing site it said was used to develop Hezbollah weaponry.

Israel killed many Hezbollah commanders and thousands of its fighters last year, while also destroying much of its arsenal.

In a speech to army officers, Aoun said the government would next week discuss Lebanon’s amendments to a US roadmap to disarm Hezbollah, deemed a terrorist group by Washington.

Lebanon’s counter proposal demands an immediate halt to Israel’s attacks, its withdrawal from positions held in the south, the establishment of state control over all Lebanon, and the disarmament of armed groups including Hezbollah, he said.

Aoun urged all parties “to seize this historic opportunity … and push for the exclusivity of weapons in the hands of the army and security forces.” He said the government would set a timeframe to implement the steps.

Shi’ite Muslim Hezbollah, backed by Tehran, was the only Lebanese group allowed to keep its weapons at the end of the 1975-90 civil war on the grounds it needed them to fight Israeli troops who occupied the south but withdrew in 2000.

Hezbollah‘s arsenal has long divided Lebanese, with critics saying it has undermined the state and dragged Lebanon into conflicts.

Washington has been pushing Lebanon to commit to disarming Hezbollah before talks can resume on halting Israeli military operations, Reuters reported earlier this week. Hezbollah has so far refused, though the group has been considering scaling back its arsenal.

‘PRETEXTS FOR AGGRESSION’

Addressing Hezbollah and its followers but without naming them, Aoun called on those who “have faced the aggression” to “rely solely on the Lebanese state”

“You are too honorable to risk the state-building project, and too noble to provide pretexts for an aggression that wants to continue the war against us,” he said.

The US proposal delivered in June would require Hezbollah to disarm within four months in exchange for the withdrawal of Israeli troops occupying several posts in south Lebanon, and a halt to Israeli air strikes.

Hezbollah had already relinquished a number of weapons depots in southern Lebanon to the Lebanese army in line with a US-brokered truce designed to end last year’s war.

Aoun said the proposals to be discussed next week include seeking $1 billion annually for 10 years to support the army and the security forces and plans for an international conference to later in the year to support reconstruction efforts.