Army to disarm Hezbollah near Israel border within 3 months, Rajji says

BEIRUT — The Lebanese Army is set to fully disarm Hezbollah near the border with Israel within three months, Foreign Minister Joe Rajji 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.

Rajji said army chief Rodolph Haykal had presented the government with a five-stage plan last week to ensure all weapons are held by the Lebanese state. Cabinet said that the army would begin implementing the plan, without disclosing details.

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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, Rajji 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," Rajji added.

"At the very least, the movement of weapons from one area to another will be prohibited."

Rajji said the next four phases of the plan will see disarmament in other regions, including Beirut and the eastern Bekaa, "but without timelines."

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Hezbollah, once one of the most powerful non-state actors in the world, has been severely weakened by a year-long conflict with Israel, including two months of open war that destroyed an unknown amount of its arsenal and decimated its leadership, including its iconic longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Beirut has characterized the disarmament push — which Hezbollah opposes as it is currently laid out — as part of the implementation of the cease-fire deal that ended the war in November last year.

The truce 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 neighbor since then and kept soldiers deployed in five border points it deemed strategic. Hezbollah has insisted that its potential disarmament be preceded by full Israeli withdrawal and guarantees that Israel would uphold its part of the truce deal.