BEIRUT: Lebanon’s army is set to fully disarm Hezbollah near the border with Israel within three months, Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi told AFP on Tuesday.
In August, the Lebanese government ordered the military to draw up plans to disarm the once-dominant militant group by the end of the year, having come under pressure from the United States and Israeli strikes.
The cabinet said last week that the army would begin implementing the plan, without disclosing details.
Raggi said army chief Rodolphe Haykal had presented the government with a five-stage plan last week to ensure all weapons are held by the Lebanese state.
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The first stage should take “three months… during which the removal of weapons will be completed south of the Litani River”, around 30 kilometres (20 miles) from Israel, by the end of November.
“There will be no warehouses, no weapons, no weapons transfers, no fighters, and no display of arms” in the area, Raggi said, describing the army’s plan.
In parallel with the first phase, the army’s plan stipulates that “security measures” will be implemented across the country.
The army will “tighten and increase the number of checkpoints, prevent the movement and carrying of weapons… but without conducting raids, arresting individuals, or confiscating weapons from warehouses”, Raggi added.
“At the very least, the movement of weapons from one area to another will be prohibited.”
Raggi said the next four phases of the plan will see disarmament in other regions, including Beirut and the eastern Bekaa, “but without timelines”.
Hezbollah has been severely weakened by a year-long conflict with Israel, including two months of open war, that destroyed part of its arsenal and decimated its leadership.
Beirut has characterised the disarmament push, which Hezbollah opposes, as part of the implementation of the ceasefire deal that ended the war in November last year.
The agreement also called for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon and an end to strikes on the country, but Israel has repeatedly bombed its neighbour since then and kept soldiers deployed in five border points it deemed strategic.
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