The US is tightening conditions on its support for the Lebanese army, as discussions in Congress link future funding more explicitly to the disarmament of the Iran-backed Hezbollah, US and Lebanese sources have told The National.
The move comes amid a broader reassessment in Washington of security assistance to Lebanon, while delays and suspensions in aid are already being felt on the ground in Beirut, affecting certain military activities, Lebanese military and security sources say.
“There are serious discussions in Congress about linking funding for the Lebanese army to Hezbollah’s disarmament. This is being considered more actively among Republican lawmakers,” a US source with direct knowledge of the matter told The National. “Republicans are fed up with empty promises from the LAF [Lebanese Armed Forces].”
This week, Senator Roger Wicker, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Senator Jim Risch, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued public calls to halt US support for the Lebanese army. “Congress should not support the LAF unless it acts to disarm Hezbollah completely – and immediately,” Mr Wicker wrote in a post on X.
His comments followed the killing in an ambush of a French soldier at the weekend, during an attack on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon blamed on Hezbollah. A second French soldier died on Wednesday of wounds sustained in the same incident.
“Hezbollah’s killing of a French service member in southern Lebanon, only days after Israel agreed to a ceasefire, is a critical test for the Lebanese Armed Forces,” said Mr Wicker.
Efforts to disarm the militant group, both domestic and international, have repeatedly stalled, hampered by Hezbollah’s military strength, its backing from Iran and the Lebanese army’s limited capabilities.
This is not the first time the issue of US funding for the Lebanese army has been raised. The final text of the 2025 National Defence Authorisation Act, which outlines US defence policy and funding for the next fiscal year, included a provision that aid to the Lebanese military could be made contingent on progress in disarming Hezbollah.
There are also US calls for the dismissal of Lebanon’s army chief, Gen Rodolphe Haykal, according to a senior Lebanese military source. Influential Republican Senator Lindsey Graham had previously criticised Gen Haykal for not taking “bolder steps” against Hezbollah.
Aid dependence
The military official said that “security assistance to the army has been suspended for three weeks now, which has affected certain military activities, including training”.
Another senior security official in Beirut explained that the US assistance is “split between financial support to help with income and other aid in the form of equipment”. He added that US aircraft that used to bring in supplies have “stopped delivering aid” during the recent war, and even afterwards
“The aid has indeed been halted for some time, but no one has been able to give an explanation. Nothing arrived this month, and nothing came last month either,” according to the security official. The National couldn't immediately confirm the account with the US side. The Lebanese army did not respond to The National's request for comment.
The US is one of the Lebanese army's most important backers, providing more than $3 billion in support over the past two decades. The policy aims to bolster state institutions in a country where Hezbollah has long held military and political power.
The Lebanese army is seen as one of the country’s few functioning state institutions. However, it has historically avoided direct confrontation with Hezbollah, raising questions about whether it has the capacity or political mandate to forcibly disarm the group without risking internal conflict. Last year, the government instructed the army to disarm Hezbollah, starting in areas south of the Litani River before expanding to the rest of the country.
Hezbollah is a powerful military and political group in Lebanon. It has sustained its military capabilities despite a year of war with Israel that ended in November 2024. It has also refused to hand over its weapons. Observers have cautioned against cutting support for the Lebanese army, arguing it could undermine efforts to counter Hezbollah.
“If Congress has concerns about the activities and leadership of the Lebanese army, raise them with the Lebanese government. Don't score an own goal by cutting funding to the only institution that can actually serve as an alternative to Hezbollah in the south and the whole country,” said Bilal Saab, senior managing director of Trends US and a former Pentagon official in the first Trump administration.
“It's obvious that the Lebanese army lacks funding and materiel to take on the multidimensional mission of being the sole provider of security for Lebanon. So, Washington's response to that is to cut LAF funding?” added Mr Saab.
Cut Hezbollah funding
The US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has been extended by three weeks. He also said the countries’ leaders would meet soon in Washington. Mr Trump hosted a second round of direct talks between Lebanon and Israel at the White House. Like the first, the meeting was held at the ambassador level. The Lebanese ambassador to the US, Nada Moawad, described the meeting as a “historic moment”.
The ceasefire was announced following six weeks of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which began after the group fired rockets at Israel to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In response, Israel launched relentless bombardment across Lebanon, killing 2,000 people, including more than 170 children, according to Lebanese authorities.
The latest war is one of several conflicts that Hezbollah has fought against Israel, resulting in massive destruction in Lebanon. Experts argue the group would not voluntarily relinquish its arsenal unless directed by its patron, Iran.
Mr Trump said on Thursday that Iran will have to stop funding Hezbollah to secure a permanent ceasefire deal with the US. “Yeah, they’ll have to cut that,” Mr Trump said to a reporter’s question about aiding the militant group. “That’s a must.”
