Lebanon is close to completing the disarmament of Hezbollah south of the Litani River, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Saturday, a demand of a fragile ceasefire with Israel.
The US-backed truce, which came into effect in November last year, requires the Iran-aligned group to pull its forces north of the Litani river, about 30km from the border with Israel, and have its military infrastructure in the vacated area dismantled.
“Prime Minister Salam affirmed that the first phase of the weapons consolidation plan related to the area south of the Litani River is only days away from completion,” a statement from his office said.
“The state is ready to move on to the second phase – namely north of the Litani River – based on the plan prepared by the Lebanese army pursuant to a mandate from the government,” Mr Salam added.
The second phase, which deals with confiscating weapons north of the Litani, is expected to begin after the New Year, a government official told The National this month.
Lebanon has been under intense pressure from Washington to speed up the disarmament of Hezbollah, which was the strongest military force in the country and the most powerful component of Iran's regional “axis of resistance” before being weakened in a war with Israel last year.
The army has gradually increased its presence in south Lebanon, as required under the November 2024 ceasefire agreement that ended more than a year of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel. However, Israel has not withdrawn as stipulated in the truce deal and has reinforced its positions in south Lebanon.
Beirut has blamed Israel's daily attacks and continued occupation of five points of Lebanese territory for the delays in disarming Hezbollah south of the Litani.
The Prime Minister's remarks came after Lebanese and Israeli officials held their second round of direct civilian talks as diplomatic efforts persist to ease tension in the country.
Lebanon and Israel, technically at war since 1948, have no official diplomatic relations. Lebanese military representatives had so far avoided direct contact with the Israeli delegation and relied instead on communicating through UN and US intermediaries.
Mr Salam had told The National that the addition of a civilian was agreed to in the hope of “defusing tension”.
