Lebanese general 'sweeping every valley and hill' in search for Hezbollah arms

Push to dismantle group in area south of Litani River faces intense opposition

Hezbollah and its leader Naim Qassem have vowed to fiercely oppose the disarmament plan. AFP

Lebanon's army on Monday presented its first report on efforts to disarm Hezbollah, a month after the cabinet approved the plan.

The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) are carrying out phase one of the plan, which was agreed on last month despite all Shiite ministers leaving the cabinet meeting. Under the proposal, all Hezbollah weapons and facilities south of the Litani would be dismantled within three months.

Army commander Gen Rodolphe Haykal presented progress of the plan to the cabinet on Monday afternoon in a four-hour meeting.

Information Minister Paul Morcos said the cabinet had reviewed the monthly report but added that deliberations would remain secret. However, sources say the LAF are making steady progress on phase one of the plan.

“He's sweeping every valley and hill," said one international observer who recently met senior Lebanese officials including Gen Haykal. "I think the end result will be a guarantee that they can control the region completely, avoid any build-up at all and that all strategic weapons in the south are gone.

“Gen Haykal gave absolute assurances that he will get it done,” they added, referring to phase one of the five-stage disarmament plan.

But they warned a failure to complete phase one on time would create a lack of trust among those involved, including the US.

Under the plan, the army would also assume responsibility for preventing the transfer of weapons between regions.

A former senior Lebanese government minister said this part of the plan was unprecedented, because it allows security forces to stop and search those suspected of transferring weapons internally.

Hezbollah and its supporters have been deeply critical of the disarmament move, especially when Israel remains entrenched in at least five points of Lebanese territory and continues to carry out daily air strikes.

Shiite cabinet ministers, including those nominated by Hezbollah and its allies, have also pushed back against the plan. Despite this opposition, in August most of the cabinet still agreed to take the once-unthinkable step to press ahead with disarming Hezbollah.

Israel has repeatedly breached the ceasefire in Lebanon with near-daily bombings in the south. AFP

Lebanon itself is facing pressure to act from the US, as well as from the Israeli strikes. More than 100 civilians have been killed in Lebanon since a November ceasefire with Hezbollah that brought an end to the bulk of Israeli attacks. More than 80,000 Lebanese remain displaced.

The US-brokered ceasefire stated that Hezbollah should dismantle its presence south of the Litani. In its place, the LAF was supposed to bolster its positions in the border areas and along with UN peacekeepers (Unifil) remove Hezbollah infrastructure. Israel was also supposed to withdraw from Lebanon, but has not.

The former minister described a sense of satisfaction rather than overwhelming approval with the results and speed of disarming Hezbollah south of the Litani.

But they also warned that no one knew how much Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would tolerate slow progress and what might cause him to resume a large-scale bombing campaign like the countrywide assault of just over a year ago.

Then, Hezbollah's leadership was virtually wiped out and much of its arsenal destroyed when Israel intensified its bombardment of Lebanon and invaded the country. More than 4,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced.

Across phases two to five, Hezbollah and other non-state armed groups would be disarmed in a move that would then expand to other parts of Lebanon.

The international observer said a weakness in the plan was these stages lack a timetable. “I think the Lebanese government needs to make it very clear that they are not backing down from full disarmament,” they said.

Last week, US President Donald Trump's administration approved $230 million for Lebanon's cash-strapped and underfunded security forces.

Highlighting the precariousness of the situation, on Monday afternoon two people were killed when an Israeli drone strike hit a car in south Lebanon on the Zebdine-Nabatieh road.

The two victims were Hassan Atwi, who was blinded by last year’s Israeli pager attacks, and his wife Zainab Raslan. Hezbollah later confirmed Mr Atwi was a member of the group.