A photograph shows the aftermath of an Israeli strike that targeted a house near a Lebanese Army checkpoint in the area of Aamrieh, south of the coastal city of Sour, on March 31, 2026. (Credit: Kawnat Haju/AFP)
BEIRUT — Lebanon has relayed to the U.N. the government’s decision considering as illegal Hezbollah’s military activities, according to information obtained by L’Orient-Le Jour.
Lebanon’s permanent representative in New York, Ahmad Arafa, received a verbal note from the foreign affairs ministry, instructing him to notify the United Nations of this decision. He also relayed the content of President Joseph Aoun’s initiative, which provides for direct negotiations with Israel.
According to an official source, this step is “routine” but aims to keep Lebanon’s international partners informed of decisions taken to end the ongoing war between Hezbollah and Israel. The source also hopes this will prevent the targeting of state infrastructure.
On March 2, just hours after Hezbollah entered the war that had been launched two days earlier by Israel and the United States against Iran, the Lebanese government banned all “military activities” by the Shiite party and authorized the use of force to disarm it.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam decreed that Hezbollah could retain only its political wing, and the government henceforth banned “all its military and security activities,” as well as attacks launched from Lebanese territory, with arrests and judicial measures as a consequence.
