Delay in Hezbollah disarmament could trigger 'renewed' Israeli military action, NYT reports

BEIRUT — U.S. officials have warned Lebanon that Washington and Gulf countries could cut financial aid and that a "renewed Israeli military campaign" could follow if Lebanese leaders do not disarm Hezbollah. "Lebanese leaders are running out of time," the New York Times reported in a warning from the Trump administration.

The American daily interviewed several U.S. officials who requested anonymity, and who expressed concern that the Lebanese government might "back down in the face of a potential confrontation" between the Lebanese army and Hezbollah. One of these officials even raised the threat of reducing the Lebanese army's annual aid, which amounts to about $150 million, in the case of "inaction or half-measures." While experts cited by the NYT believe the U.S. Congress could "reward" an effective disarmament plan with aid for "equipment and salaries" of Lebanese soldiers, the opposite could also happen if there are delays in retrieving the Shiite party’s arsenal.

The New York Times interviewed several U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, expressing concern that the Lebanese government "will flinch from a potential confrontation" between the Lebanese Army and Hezbollah. One official even warned that Washington could cut the Lebanese Army's annual aid of about $150 million in response to "inaction or half measures."

The report added that Congress could "reward" a decisive disarmament plan with funding for the army’s equipment and salaries, but delays in recovering Hezbollah’s arsenal could trigger the opposite.

Some members of Congress have already backed several bills to block any military funding if the army does not act against Hezbollah, arguing that inaction makes the Lebanese Army "complicit in empowering a terrorist organization whose primary mission is to destroy America and Israel," as Representative Greg Steube, Republican of Florida, put it in a statement last fall.

The U.S. officials interviewed described Hezbollah’s threats of a "confrontation" as largely unfounded, though they could still "intimidate" Lebanese leaders. They argued that Iran’s weakening influence and the fall of Syria’s Assad regime make such threats less credible. A source in contact with a "senior Saudi official" said Riyadh shares this view, seeing a lower risk of Hezbollah resorting to violence. Finally, the article noted that U.S. envoy Tom Barrack echoed a similar sentiment in his last visit to Beirut, saying: "Hezbollah, you can convince them in a non-adversary — my opinion — in a non-civil war environment, to join one Lebanese state."