BEIRUT (AP) — The Lebanese military said Thursday it has completed the first phase of a plan to fully deploy and disarm non-state groups, particularly Hezbollah, in southern Lebanon.
Israel said the progress was encouraging but “far from sufficient” and its foreign ministry said the group still maintained dozens of compounds and other infrastructure.
Hezbollah began disarming in 2024 after Washington brokered a ceasefire that ended the war between Hezbollah and Israel.
The military’s statement, which did not name Hezbollah or any other armed group, came before President Joseph Aoun met with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and his government to discuss deployment and disarmament plans. Both men said disarming non-state groups was a top priority when they took office shortly after the ceasefire came into effect.
Senior Lebanese officials have approved the military declaration.
Aoun’s office issued a statement ahead of the cabinet meeting calling on Israel to cease attacks, withdraw its troops from areas it occupies and release Lebanese prisoners. He called on friendly countries not to send arms to Lebanon except to state institutions – an apparent reference to Iran’s decades-long shipment of weapons and ammunition to Hezbollah.
Speaker Nabi Berri, an important ally of Hezbollah and who played a leading role in ceasefire negotiations, issued a statement saying that the people of southern Lebanon “long for the presence and protection of the army.”
Israel insists that despite Lebanese efforts, Hezbollah is still trying to rearm itself in southern Lebanon.
“The U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon clearly stipulates that Hezbollah must be completely disarmed,” a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said. “This is critical for Israel’s security and Lebanon’s future.”
Israel’s foreign ministry said in a later statement that the group was “rearming faster than it is disarming” and showed a map showing alleged Hezbollah positions, launch sites and underground networks south of the Litani River.
Plans to restrict weapons in ‘advanced phase’
The text of the ceasefire agreement is vague on what to do with Hezbollah’s weapons and military installations north of the Litani River, saying Lebanese authorities should begin dismantling unauthorized installations south of the river.
Hezbollah insists the agreement applies only to areas south of the Litani River, while Israel insists it applies to the entire country. The Lebanese government says it will eventually eliminate non-state weapons across the country.
The deal is seen as a process to implement previous UN Security Council agreements that called on non-state groups to disarm, withdraw all occupying forces and give the Lebanese state full control of its territory.
Information Minister Paulo Mokos said after a cabinet meeting that the army would start working on a disarmament plan north of the Litani River and that the government would discuss the plan in February. He added that the army would also continue to “contain” weapons in other areas of Lebanon, meaning they would not be allowed to be used or transferred.
The Lebanese military has been clearing tunnels, rocket launch sites and other structures since the disarmament proposal was approved by the government and took effect in September.
The government has set a deadline of the end of 2025 to clear the area south of the Litani River of non-state weapons.
“Having effectively and effectively achieved the objectives of the first phase, the Army confirmed that its weapons restriction plan has entered the advanced stages,” the army statement said. “Work in the area continues until unexploded ordnance and tunnels are cleared… The aim is to prevent armed groups from irreversibly rebuilding their capabilities.”
Hezbollah had no immediate comment on Lebanon’s statement.
Officials said the next phase of the disarmament plan is in parts of southern Lebanon between the Litani and Awali rivers, including the Lebanese port city of Sidon, but they have not set a timetable for that phase.
Worried about a new round of upgrades
Israel has been attacking Lebanon almost daily and has seized five strategic mountaintops along the border, the only area south of Litani that the Israeli military says it does not yet control.
Lebanon and Israel hold regular meetings with the United States, France and the United Nations peacekeeping force (UNIFIL) in southern Lebanon to monitor developments following the ceasefire.
Since then, Lebanon’s cash-strapped army has gradually dispersed across a vast area of southern Lebanon between the Litani River and the United Nations-drawn “Blue Line” that separates the tiny country from Israel. The military has also slowly confiscated weapons from Palestinian armed factions in the camps.
Israel accuses Hezbollah of trying to rebuild its battered military capabilities and says the Lebanese military’s efforts are not enough, raising fears of a new escalation. Lebanon, meanwhile, says Israeli attacks and control of the mountaintop are obstacles to those efforts.
Lebanon also hopes that disarming Hezbollah and other non-state groups will help raise funds needed to rebuild after the 2024 war.
Hezbollah says it has been cooperating with forces in the south but will not discuss disarmament elsewhere until Israel halts attacks and withdraws its troops from Lebanese territory.
The latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict began on October 7, 2023, the day after a Hamas-led attack on Israel triggered the Gaza War. Hezbollah, the militant group mainly based in southern Lebanon, began firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas and the Palestinians.
Israel responded with airstrikes and artillery strikes. In September 2024, the low-level conflict escalated into a full-scale war. Israeli airstrikes killed much of Hezbollah’s senior leadership, leaving the group severely weakened.
Hezbollah still wields political clout, with a large number of seats in parliament representing the Shiite Muslim community and two cabinet ministers.