Lebanon set to discuss plan to disarm Hezbollah” The Lebanese government is set to discuss on Friday an army plan to disarm Hezbollah, which the Iran-backed group opposes, accusing the cabinet of playing into the hands of Israel and the United States.
In August, under heavy US pressure and fearing Israel would intensify its strikes, Lebanon’s government ordered the army to draw up a plan for disarming Hezbollah by the end of the year.Hezbollah reiterated its opposition to the move on Wednesday, with its parliamentary bloc calling on Lebanese authorities to “reverse their… unpatriotic decision.”
The government says disarming Hezbollah is part of implementing the US-brokered ceasefire agreement from November that ended over a year of hostilities between the group and Israel.
Friday’s cabinet session comes amid intensified Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon over the past two days, which killed at least five people, according to the health ministry and the state-run National News Agency.
David Wood, a senior Lebanon analyst at the International Crisis Group, told AFP that “Israel is trying to send a message that only concrete action on disarmament, rather than pledges and words, will do the job.”
Should the cabinet approve the plan, Wood said Hezbollah could consider other options like “imposing pressure on the Shia ministers to resign from the government” or “trying to organize mass protests.”
