Lebanese President Joseph Aoun pledges to disarm Hezbollah despite resistance
Lebanese authorities are pushing ahead with a plan to disarm the group and other non-state actors and are expected to vote to officially adopt the plan on Thursday afternoon, after failing to adopt it during a turbulent meeting earlier this week.
The 'arms monopoly will be achieved despite the difficulties and obstacles', Mr Aoun told Saudi news channel Al Arabiya.
Tuesday's heated cabinet session ended without a vote but resulted in the announcement of a disarmament timeline, expected to conclude by the end of the year. The cabinet is set to revisit the plan and vote during Thursday's session.
Mr Aoun said that authorities are waiting to 'discuss and approve' an army plan to consolidate weapons under state authority which will be discussed in the session.
'Monopolising arms in the hand of the state does not harm Lebanon's rights and sovereignty,' he said.
The Iran-backed group has rejected the motion outright and said it will deal with it 'as if it does not exist'. Ministers in Hezbollah and its ally the Amal Movement staged a walkout of Tuesday's government meeting to protest the disarmament plan, with Hezbollah condemning it as a 'great sin'.
In an interview with Qatar based Al Jazeera news channel on Thursday, Ghaleb Abu Zeinab, a member of the party's political council, said that the government had bypassed all the issues that had been discussed and to which the party was open to, adopting a plan that served Israel's interests under pressure from the US.
Mr Abu Zeinab added that the government even bypassed Mr Aoun's proposals, and 'adopted a plan by US envoy Thomas Barrak, which clearly bears Israeli influence'.
The government's adoption of Mr Barrak 's plan represents 'an attempt to help Israel achieve what it was unable to achieve through war', according to Mr Abu Zeinab, who warned 'of the seriousness of the situation and the impasse the country is heading towards due to its position, which it took under American pressure'.
The cabinet's efforts to adopt a motion to bring arms under its control comes as the US exerts intense pressure on the government to commit to a timetable for Hezbollah's disarmament.
The small country, which for decades has been caught in the competing tides of US and Iranian influence, finds its self caught between the two once again: pressed for time as US pressure mounts and Israel continues its daily spree of air strikes and assassinations, and Hezbollah's refusal to disarm.
Tuesday's high-stakes government meeting coincided simultaneously with a forceful speech by the group's leader Naim Qassem in which he rejected disarmament. It was one of the most defiant public stances by the group – which suffered significant losses in leadership and infrastructure during its war with Israel – in months.
Hezbollah has consistently rejected discussions over its arms until Israel stops its daily bombardment and withdraws from five points of Lebanese territories occupied during last year's Hezbollah-Israel war. On Wednesday, Hezbollah said the government decision weakened Lebanon's position amid Israeli and US 'threats' against the country.
The announcement by the Lebanese government also evoked a strong reaction from Iran, Hezbollah's main backer.
Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi said 'this is not the first time they have tried to disarm Hezbollah'.
'Now they think they can disarm Hezbollah, but the position of the Hezbollah leader showed that they stood firm and have a strong position.'
Mr Aragchi said Iran supported Hezbollah's decisions, but 'would not interfere in the matter'.
Hours after Hezbollah's statement on Wednesday evening, Israel launched a heavy bombing campaign against alleged weapons depots and other infrastructure belonging to the group.
The Lebanese Ministry of health said one person was killed and another two injured in one of the attacks on Deir Seryan in the south of the country.
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