Hezbollah disarmament: Washington 'will not deploy Marines to do job for state': Barrack

U.S. envoy Tom Barrack stated on Wednesday that Washington is prepared to facilitate talks between Israel and Lebanon if the latter "commits to the disarmament of Hezbollah by the end of 2025."

On Tuesday, Nawaf Salam's government set the end of the year as the deadline to restore the state's monopoly on arms in the country, and therefore to disarm the Shiite party and other armed groups.

Many of Hezbollah's critics welcomed this decision. However, Hezbollah rejected any disarmament timetable as long as 'Israeli aggression' against Lebanon continues, despite the cease-fire agreed upon in November, saying it would act as if this decision "did not exist."

'One army only'

"The United States is willing to act as mediator with Israel, on one condition: that the Lebanese government explicitly declares there can be only one army in Lebanon and commits to a plan to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year," the U.S. envoy said during a meeting with journalists.

He also affirmed that "America will not come and deploy Marines on the ground to do this job instead of the Lebanese state," noting that "this is not Trump's goal, nor is it anyone else's mission."

"The Gulf countries have said: 'If you take these steps, we will come to southern Lebanon, we will fund an industrial zone, reconstruction operations, and job creation. This will be the starting point of everything that follows,'" he emphasized.

Since President Joseph Aoun took office, and following the recent war between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanese authorities have been pushing for a state monopoly on arms.

A Cabinet meeting is scheduled for Thursday to discuss the American roadmap given to Lebanese authorities by U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, who has made several recent trips to Beirut to advocate for this measure.

It is still unknown whether ministers from the Shiite tandem will attend this meeting.