Report: Army chief refuses clash with Hezbollah as army prepares four-stage plan
Army Commander General Rodolph Haykal has told Speaker Nabih Berri that he does not want to clash with Hezbollah, in a meeting Tuesday at Ain el-Tineh, pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newpaper reported.
Al-Akhbar said Wednesday that it has learned from prominent sources that the meeting with Berri was "positive" and that Haykal has told both Berri and Hezbollah that Hezbollah's disarmament requires dialogue and understanding and that the disarmament plan "cannot be implemented by force."
The Lebanese government had ordered the army to devise plans by the end of 2025 to disarm Hezbollah. "The problem is with the authority not with the army," Haykal reportedly told Berri, describing Hezbollah as a "fundamental Lebanese component."
According to the daily's sources, the army has begun preparing a four-stage plan, targeting heavy missile weapons.
This plan intersects with an American proposal of a four-stage plan starting from the area between the Litani and Awali rivers, followed by the Bekaa, Beirut's southern suburbs, and Greater Beirut, al-Akhbar said.
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