U.S. poised to let Israel 'do what it needs’ if Hezbollah refuses to disarm

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham told Erbil-based media outlet Shams TV on Friday that the disarmament of Hezbollah is not negotiable and that Washington would give its "green light" for Israel to "do what it needs to do" if the party does not voluntarily hand over its heavy weapons to the Lebanese army as part of the government-initiated process. "That's plan B," the Republican senator said, according to excerpts of the interview shared on social media by Shams TV.

"Hezbollah must be disarmed. The Lebanese government has called for negotiations for this disarmament [between early August and early September, editor’s note] and that was a big step forward. We hope that [Hezbollah] will do it of its own free will. If it doesn't, we might give them a deadline, possibly 60 days, to make this happen," explained the Republican senator, known for his hawkish approach to U.S. foreign policy.

Surprise surprise

Qassem takes everyone by surprise: A time for change may have arrived

"If these negotiations do not succeed and Hezbollah is not willing to hand over its heavy weapons — and I'm not talking about all the weapons — to the Lebanese Army, then Israel will have the green light to do what it needs to do," he continued during his brief remarks to Shams TV.

Such statements raise the specter of a new large-scale war by the Israeli army against Hezbollah in Lebanon, after about a year spent under a cease-fire marked by countless Israeli violations — 4,500 according to the latest tally from the Lebanese Army communicated this week.

On Friday, new drone strikes killed at least two people and wounded several others in southern Lebanon, just 24 hours after a series of bombings of a scale not seen since the cease-fire was established on Nov. 27, 2024.

Regional consensus

Less than two days before U.S. diplomat Morgan Ortagus arrives in Beirut, notably to discuss the arms monopoly issue, Lindsey Graham also assured that the United States intends to help strengthen the Lebanese Army. 

"We will need to work on building up the Lebanese Army so that it can push Hezbollah aside in time. It is also necessary for us to give U.S. support to the Lebanese Army because Hezbollah has American blood on its hands, and Kash Patel, FBI director, said yesterday during a hearing [before U.S. lawmakers, editor’s note] that Hezbollah is a major threat to the United States," he said.

"The time has come to end Hezbollah's existence as an armed militia operating outside the framework of the state," he added, according to remarks reported by Nida' el Watan, asserting that the party constitutes "a direct threat to the security of Lebanon and the region" and is "trained and financed by Iran, serving its interests and not those of the Lebanese."

The U.S. senator further indicated that "a growing regional consensus" is forming around the need to strip Hezbollah of its arsenal, as the militia's secretary general, Naim Qassem, called in a speech on Friday for opening a new chapter with Saudi Arabia.

In recent days, notably during an Arab-Islamic summit at the beginning of the week in Doha, Gulf diplomacies have rallied to denounce the Israeli strike carried out on Qatari soil on Sept. 9.