Lebanon sets deadline for Hezbollah disarmament by end of year

Salam said that the state army should draw up a plan for this and present it to the cabinet by the end of the month. However, it seems unlikely that the Shiite organization will accept the decision and the timetable.

The cabinet also includes two ministers who are allied with Hezbollah. They left the meeting in protest, reported the Hezbollah broadcaster Al-Manar. According to the report, Salam insisted on taking a decision on disarmament without consensus if necessary.

Hezbollah leader Naim Kassim reiterated yesterday that the organization would not agree to any timetable as long as Israel's attacks in Lebanon continued and its troops did not withdraw from the south. Israel justifies the attacks by claiming that Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon continue to pose a threat.

Renewed consultations on Thursday

The cabinet is to discuss the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel again tomorrow. Both sides have been firing at each other since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, which developed into a war of its own. A ceasefire came into force at the end of last year.

The USA and Israel have recently increased the pressure on the Lebanese government. Prime Minister Salam and President Joseph Aoun are also demanding that the state army should have a monopoly on weapons in the country.

If the resistance from Hezbollah, with its hundreds of thousands of supporters, grows, Lebanon could face the next crisis. Some fear that a scenario from May 2008 could repeat itself: Among other things, the government at the time tried to shut down the militia's communications network. Hezbollah supporters then fought days of battles with government supporters in Beirut and dozens of people were killed.