How Lebanon is planning to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year

Geoff Bennett:

The Lebanese government is close to approving an American plan to disarm the U.S. designated-terrorist group Hezbollah. The decision marks an historic first to dismantle the Iran-backed group.

The agreement proposes an aggressive timeline to complete Hezbollah's disarmament by the end of the year in return for Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon's south, plus an end to hostilities.

Special correspondent Simona Foltyn has more from Beirut.

Simona Foltyn:

A new order is taking shape in the ruins of Lebanon's latest war. Last year, Israel killed almost the entire leadership of Hezbollah and thousands of its fighters. Now there is a plan to take what remains of its weapons.

Not far from where Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader for 30 years, was killed with U.S.-made bunker-busting bombs last fall, I sat down with one of the group's Parliament members.

Hussein Hajj Hassan, Hezbollah Member of Lebanese Parliament (through interpreter): This was an American paper that was discussed within the Lebanese government. The paper is a complete submission from the Lebanese to the American government.

Simona Foltyn:

The so-called American paper was presented by President Trump's special envoy Tom Barrack. The backlash was further fueled last week when he called the Lebanese press corps animalistic during a chaotic news conference.

Tom Barrack, U.S. Special Envoy to Syria: And I want to tell you something. The moment that this starts becoming chaotic, like animalistic, we're gone. So you want to know what's happening, act civilized, act kind, act tolerant, because this is the problem with what's happening in the region.

Simona Foltyn:

Barrack later apologized for those comments.

The plan he is pushing wants the Lebanese government to first disarm Hezbollah, and only then would Israel consider withdrawing from the areas it still occupies in Lebanon's south.

Tom Barrack:

Is, they will meet tit for tat, in exact cadence, what we will do in an effort to make sure that Hezbollah is not armed as an adversary against them.

Simona Foltyn:

If you reject this agreement, what is the alternative that you are proposing?

Hussein Hajj Hassan (through interpreter):

The alternative is for Israel and America to comply with the cease-fire agreement that was signed on November 27, 2024. Why is the United States not insisting on Israel's obligations under that agreement? Why is the United States imposing things on Lebanon, but not imposing anything on Israel?

Simona Foltyn:

That November cease-fire was also guaranteed by the United States, as well as France. But according to the U.N. peacekeeping mission called UNIFIL, Israel has committed around 8,000 violations since it went into effect, including drone surveillance, airstrikes and ground operations.

I'm headed towards the border with U.N. peacekeepers who are monitoring the situation on the ground.

So, on the other side of that wall, that's Israel?

Lt. Col. Maximiliano Lasi, U.N. United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon:

Yes, on the other side, we have Israel.

Simona Foltyn:

And what's the closest IDF checkpoint?

Lt. Col. Maximiliano Lasi:

On the right, you can see the tower. The red and white tower is one of the advanced checkpoint of the IDF.

Simona Foltyn:

Have you seen any Hezbollah activity in recent months?

Lt. Col. Maximiliano Lasi:

Personally, no, we don't have — see any kind of this activity. Some violations, there is from IDF side, more or less, not from Lebanon's side.

Simona Foltyn:

The IDF carries out near daily bombardments, like these airstrikes captured on video on Sunday. Israel has also built at least five new outposts on Lebanese soil.

My understanding right now is that you cannot drive on some parts of the roads that is on the Lebanese side.

Lt. Col. Maximiliano Lasi:

OK.

Simona Foltyn:

What is the reason for that?

Lt. Col. Maximiliano Lasi:

Because, at the moment, there is an IDF position close to this position, but we are working to regain freedom of movement and to remove any kind of roadblock that are in this position.

Simona Foltyn:

Meanwhile, Lebanon has largely complied with the cease-fire, with only 21 projectiles fired from Lebanese territory since November. Hezbollah has surrendered more than 500 weapons stores and military installations in Southern Lebanon, taking steps for the first time to fulfill its obligations under a U.N. resolution that ended the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel.

The new agreement has moved the goalposts, requiring Hezbollah to also give up weapons elsewhere in the country. For decades, Hezbollah's military capabilities have far exceeded those of the Lebanese armed forces, earning it a reputation of a state within a state. While Hezbollah's Shia constituents see Washington's plan as an affront to Lebanon's sovereignty, Hezbollah's detractors see it as an historic opportunity to weaken the group's influence over the state.

Within the Lebanese government, the effort is championed by U.S.-backed President Joseph Aoun, a Christian and former Lebanese Army commander.

Joseph Aoun, Lebanese President (through interpreter):

We urge, without hesitation, to affirm that weapons are exclusively in the hands of the army and security forces, in order to restore the world's confidence in us and in the ability of the state to maintain its security in the face of Israeli aggressions.

Simona Foltyn:

But the push for Hezbollah's disarmament by the end of the year risks leaving Lebanon with few means to defend itself.

Dr. Mohammad Haider is one of four Shia Cabinet members who oppose the plan.

Dr. Mohammad Haider, Lebanese Minister of Labor (through interpreter): We know that, when the Lebanese Army is spread out across the country, it will not be able to carry out the tasks required. At the moment, when Israel decides to strike any area in Lebanon, it has no ability to prevent any plane from reaching its target, let alone shoot it down.

Simona Foltyn:

Why is it that until now, the Lebanese Army is so weak?

Dr. Mohammad Haider (through interpreter):

This is a political and diplomatic decision. Until now, there has been an international decision not to supply the Lebanese Army with weapons. Whenever we try to find a country that is willing to provide weapons to Lebanon, the Americans decide that it's forbidden to arm Lebanon except through American channels.

Simona Foltyn:

Washington provides around $150 million annually to the Lebanese army, most of which goes towards non-lethal equipment. That's around 1 percent of the $12.5 billion in military aid given to Israel last year. The U.S. has promised Lebanon to increase military aid to $1 billion per year for the next 10 years.

Do you believe that this is a firm commitment?

Dr. Mohammad Haider (through interpreter):

There are no guarantees. Who can guarantee its continuity for 10 years? And will this money give the army the ability to defend, or will it just be used for symbolic things like vehicles and other devices?

Simona Foltyn:

On the ground, the Lebanese army is spread thin, a lone vehicle here and there; 4,500 additional troops should be recruited and trained by December. Many Christians support the idea.

Chadi Sayah is the mayor of Alma El Chaab, a Christian village less than a mile from the border with Israel.

Chadi Sayah, Mayor of Alma El Chaab, Lebanon (through interpreter): The Lebanese government includes different sects, religions and components of Lebanese society. So we will submit to whatever the government decides. We believe in Lebanese institutions. We believe in the Lebanese army.

Simona Foltyn:

Some fear that Washington's plan could pit the Lebanese army against Hezbollah, while fueling tensions between Lebanon's different sects.

Dr. Mohammad Haider (through interpreter):

Israel's goal is to turn the battle into an internal battle, because then it will be easier for it to keep the southern lands or invade other lands under the pretext that the Lebanese people are distracted with each other and unable to provide security.

Simona Foltyn:

It's all part of a broader reshuffle taking place in the Middle East, but, in Lebanon, it risks upsetting the delicate balance of power that has kept internal conflict at bay.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Simona Foltyn in Lebanon.