President says Lebanon determined to disarm Hezbollah
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Thursday that he was determined to disarm Hezbollah, a step it has come under heavy US pressure to take, despite the group's protests that doing so would serve Israeli goals.
Hezbollah and Israel fought a two-month war last year that left the militant group badly weakened, though it retains part of its arsenal.
Israel has kept up its air strikes on Hezbollah targets despite a November ceasefire, and has threatened to continue them until the group has been disarmed.
In a speech on Thursday, Aoun said Beirut was demanding "the extension of the Lebanese state's authority over all its territory, the removal of weapons from all armed groups including Hezbollah and their handover to the Lebanese army".
He added it was every politician's duty "to seize this historic opportunity and push without hesitation towards affirming the army and security forces' monopoly on weapons over all Lebanese territory... in order to regain the world's confidence".
Under the November ceasefire, Hezbollah was to withdraw its fighters north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border.
Israel was meant to withdraw all its troops from Lebanon, but has kept them in five areas it deems strategic.
The truce was based on a two-decade-old UN Security Council resolution that said only the Lebanese military and UN peacekeepers should possess weapons in the country's south, and that all non-state groups should be disarmed.
However, that resolution went unfulfilled for years, with Hezbollah's arsenal before the latest war seen as far superior to the army's, and the group wielding extensive political influence.
Aoun took over the presidency in January ending a two-year vacancy -- his election by lawmakers made possible in part by the shifting balance of power in the wake of the conflict.
On Wednesday, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said that "anyone calling today for the surrender of weapons, whether internally or externally, on the Arab or the international stage, is serving the Israeli project".
He accused US envoy Tom Barrack, who has visited Lebanon several times in recent months, of using "intimidation and threats" in his talks with senior officials with the aim of "aiding Israel".
Collapse or stability
Israel has carried out near daily strikes in Lebanon in recent months, targeting what it says are Hezbollah militants and infrastructure, but the group has refrained from striking back.
Israel launched several strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in the south and east on Thursday, targeting what it said were sites used by Hezbollah to manufacture and store missiles.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said the targets included "Hezbollah's biggest precision missile manufacturing site", and the military said it had hit "infrastructure that was used for producing and storing strategic weapons" in south Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.
In his speech, Aoun said Lebanon was at "a crucial stage that does not tolerate any sort of provocation from any side".
"For the thousandth time, I assure you that my concern in having a (state) weapons monopoly comes from my concern to defend Lebanon's sovereignty and borders, to liberate the occupied Lebanese territories and build a state that welcomes all its citizens," he said, addressing Hezbollah's supporters as an "essential pillar" of society.
Lebanon has proposed modifications to "ideas" submitted by the United States on Hezbollah's disarmament, Aoun added, and a plan would be discussed at a cabinet meeting next week to "establish a timetable for implementation".
Aoun also demanded the withdrawal of Israeli troops, the release of Lebanese prisoners and "an immediate cessation of Israeli hostilities".
"Today, we must choose between collapse and stability," he said.
Hezbollah is the only group that held on to its weapons after Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, doing so in the name of "resistance" against Israel, which occupied south Lebanon until 2000.
Lebanon has also committed to disarming Palestinian militant groups that control the country's refugee camps.
© 2025 AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yomiuri Shimbun
5 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
US Envoy Visits Aid Site in Gaza Run by Israeli-Backed Group That Has Been Heavily Criticized
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump's Mideast envoy on Friday visited a food distribution site in the Gaza Strip operated by an Israeli-backed American contractor whose efforts to deliver food to the hunger-stricken territory have been marred by violence and controversy. International experts warned this week that a 'worst-case scenario of famine' is playing out in Gaza. Israel's nearly 22-month military offensive against Hamas has shattered security in the territory of some 2 million Palestinians and made it nearly impossible to safely deliver food to starving people. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee toured a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution site in Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, which has been almost completely destroyed and is now a largely depopulated Israeli military zone. Hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli fire while heading to such aid sites since May, according to witnesses, health officials and the United Nations human rights office. Israel and GHF say they have only fired warning shots and that the toll has been exaggerated. In a report issued on Friday, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said GHF was at the heart of a 'flawed, militarized aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths.' Witkoff says he's working on a new Gaza aid plan Witkoff posted on X that he had spent over five hours inside Gaza in order to gain 'a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza.' He did not request any meetings with U.N. officials in Gaza during his visit, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters. U.N. agencies have provided aid throughout Gaza since the start of the war, when conditions allow. Chapin Fay, a spokesperson for GHF, said the visit reflected Trump's understanding of the stakes and that 'feeding civilians, not Hamas, must be the priority.' The aid group says it has delivered over 100 million meals since it began operations in May. All four of the group's sites established in May are in zones controlled by the Israeli military and have become flashpoints of desperation, with starving people scrambling for scarce aid. More than 1,000 people have been killed by Israeli fire since May while seeking aid in the territory, most near the GHF sites but also near United Nations aid convoys, the U.N. human rights office said last month. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots at people who approach its forces, and GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding. Dozens killed near aid sites Officials at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza said Friday they received the bodies of 13 people who were killed while trying to get aid, including near the site that U.S. officials visited. GHF denied anyone was killed at their sites on Friday. The Israeli military said its forces had fired warning shots hundreds of meters (yards) away from the aid site at people it described as suspects and said had ignored orders to distance themselves from its forces. It said it was not aware of any casualties but was still investigating. Another 23 people were killed and dozens wounded near the Israeli-run Zikim Crossing, the main entry point for aid to northern Gaza, according to Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya, the director of Shifa Hospital, which received the bodies. He said the vast majority of injuries were from gunfire. The Israeli military said it struck several armed militants in northern Gaza but that the strike 'was not conducted near the passage of the humanitarian aid trucks and no damage was caused to them.' The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said 11 people were killed at another aid distribution point in Gaza City. There was no immediate comment from the military on those deaths. HRW slams Israeli-backed aid system Human Rights Watch said in its report that 'it would be near impossible for Palestinians to follow the instructions issued by GHF, stay safe, and receive aid, particularly in the context of ongoing military operations.' It cited doctors, aid seekers and at least one GHF security contractor. Building on previous accounts, it described how how thousands of Palestinians gather near the sites at night before they open. As they head to the sites on foot, Israeli forces control their movements by opening fire toward them. Once inside the sites, they race for aid in a frenzied fee-for-all, with weaker and more vulnerable people coming away with nothing, HRW said. Responding to the report, Israel's military accused Hamas of sabotaging the aid distribution system, without providing evidence. It said it was working to make the routes under its control safer for those traveling to aid sites. GHF did not immediately respond to questions about the report. The group has never allowed journalists to visit their sites and Israel's military has barred reporters from independently entering Gaza throughout the war. Top German diplomat condemns settler violence in the West Bank Germany's foreign minister visited Taybeh in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian Christian village that has seen recent attacks by Israeli settlers. Johann Wadephul said Israel's settlements are an obstacle to peace and condemned settler violence. He also called on Hamas to lay down its arms in Gaza and release the remaining hostages. Germany has so far declined to join other major Western countries in announcing plans to recognize a Palestinian state. Palestinians in another nearby town laid to rest 45-year-old Khamis Ayad, who they say suffocated while extinguishing fires set by settlers during an attack the night before. Witnesses said Israeli forces fired live rounds and tear gas toward residents after the settlers attacked. Israel's military said police were investigating the incident. They said security forces found Hebrew graffiti and a burnt vehicle at the scene but had not detained any suspects. There has been a rise in settler attacks, as well as Palestinian militant attacks on Israelis and large-scale Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel out of Gaza that triggered the Israel-Hamas war. Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, that day and abducted 251 others. They still hold 50 hostages, including around 20 believed to be alive. Most of the others have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians and operates under the Hamas government. The U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
Japan Today
8 hours ago
- Japan Today
Western countries speak of a future Palestinian state as the nightmare unfolding in Gaza worsens
People walk along a street lined with destroyed buildings following Israeli bombardments during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi) By JOSEPH KRAUSS Plans announced by France, the United Kingdom and Canada to recognize a Palestinian state won't bring one about anytime soon, though they could further isolate Israel and strengthen the Palestinians' negotiating position over the long term. The problem for the Palestinians is that there may not be a long term. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects Palestinian statehood and has vowed to maintain open-ended control over annexed east Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and the war-ravaged Gaza Strip — territories Israel seized in the 1967 war that the Palestinians want for their state. Israeli leaders favor the outright annexation of much of the West Bank, where Israel has already built well over 100 settlements housing over 500,000 Jewish settlers. Israel's offensive in Gaza has reduced most of it to a smoldering wasteland and is pushing it toward famine, and Israel says it is pressing ahead with plans to relocate much of its population of some 2 million to other countries. The United States, the only country with any real leverage over Israel, has taken its side. Palestinians have welcomed international support for their decades-long quest for statehood but say there are more urgent measures Western countries could take if they wanted to pressure Israel. 'It's a bit odd that the response to daily atrocities in Gaza, including what is by all accounts deliberate starvation, is to recognize a theoretical Palestinian state that may never actually come into being,' said Khaled Elgindy, a visiting scholar at Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. 'It looks more like a way for these countries to appear to be doing something," he said. Fathi Nimer, a policy fellow at Al-Shabaka, a Palestinian think tank, says they could have suspended trade agreements with Israel, imposed arms embargoes or other sanctions. 'There is a wide tool set at the disposal of these countries, but there is no political will to use it,' he said. Most countries in the world recognized Palestinian statehood decades ago, but Britain and France would be the third and fourth permanent members of the U.N. Security Council to do so, leaving the U.S. as the only holdout. 'We're talking about major countries and major Israeli allies,' said Alon Pinkas, an Israeli political analyst and former consul general in New York. 'They're isolating the U.S. and they're leaving Israel dependent — not on the U.S., but on the whims and erratic behavior of one person, Trump.' Recognition could also strengthen moves to prevent annexation, said Hugh Lovatt, an expert on the conflict at the European Council on Foreign Relations. The challenge, he said, 'is for those recognizing countries to match their recognition with other steps, practical steps.' It could also prove significant if Israel and the Palestinians ever resume the long-dormant peace process, which ground to a halt after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to office in 2009. 'If and when some kind of negotiations do resume, probably not in the immediate future, but at some point, it puts Palestine on much more equal footing,' said Julie Norman, a professor of Middle East politics at University College London. 'It has statehood as a starting point for those negotiations, rather than a certainly-not-assured endpoint.' Israel's government and most of its political class were opposed to Palestinian statehood long before Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack triggered the war. Netanyahu says creating a Palestinian state would reward Hamas and eventually lead to an even larger Hamas-run state on Israel's borders. Hamas leaders have at times suggested they would accept a state on the 1967 borders but the group remains formally committed to Israel's destruction. Western countries envision a future Palestinian state that would be democratic but also led by political rivals of Hamas who accept Israel and help it suppress the militant group, which won parliamentary elections in 2006 and seized power in Gaza the following year. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose authority administers parts of the occupied West Bank, supports a two-state solution and cooperates with Israel on security matters. He has made a series of concessions in recent months, including announcing the end to the Palestinian Authority's practice of providing stipends to the families of prisoners held by Israel and slain militants. Such measures, along with the security coordination, have made it deeply unpopular with Palestinians, and have yet to earn it any favors from Israel or the Trump administration. Israel says Abbas is not sincerely committed to peace and accuses him of tolerating incitement and militancy. Lovatt says there is much to criticize about the PA, but that 'often the failings of the Palestinian leadership are exaggerated in a way to relieve Israel of its own obligations.' If you had told Palestinians in September 2023 that major countries were on the verge of recognizing a state, that the U.N.'s highest court had ordered Israel to end the occupation, that the International Criminal Court had ordered Netanyahu's arrest, and that prominent voices from across the U.S. political spectrum were furious with Israel, they might have thought their dream of statehood was at hand. But those developments pale in comparison to the ongoing war in Gaza and smaller but similarly destructive military offensives in the West Bank. Israel's military victories over Iran and its allies have left it the dominant and nearly unchallenged military power in the region, and Trump is the strongest supporter it has ever had in the White House. "This (Israeli) government is not going to change policy," Pinkas said. 'The recognition issue, the ending of the war, humanitarian aid — that's all going to have to wait for another government.' Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London contributed. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Today
10 hours ago
- Japan Today
How Gaza exasperation pushed three Israel allies towards recognising Palestinian state
People hold flags during a demonstration in support of Palestinians, orgsanised by Palestinarekin Elkartasuna (Solidarity With Palestine), in Bilbao, Spain, October 5, 2024. REUTERS/Vincent West By David Ljunggren, Michel Rose and Alistair Smout When Spain, Ireland and Norway announced in May 2024 that they would recognise a Palestinian state, Israel's closer allies dismissed the move as unhelpful to solving the crisis in Gaza. While France, Britain and Canada stressed their support for establishing two states with recognised borders as the long-term solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, they were wary of being seen to reward Hamas, of damaging relations with Israel and Washington, and of squandering diplomatic capital. "I will not do an 'emotional' recognition," French President Emmanuel Macron said at the time. But as Israeli restrictions on aid escalated Gaza's humanitarian crisis and a two-month truce ended in March, talks began in earnest that would lead three of the Group of Seven major Western economies to set out plans to recognise a Palestinian state in September. FEARS FOR TWO-STATE SOLUTION BOOST RECOGNITION DRIVE "The possibility of a two-state solution is being eroded before our eyes ... that has been one of the factors that has brought us to this point to try to reverse, with partners, this cycle," Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Thursday. France and Saudi Arabia formed a plan to have more Western countries move towards Palestinian recognition while Arab states would be pushed to take a stronger line against Hamas. The pair wanted their proposals to gain acceptance at a United Nations conference in June, but they struggled to gain traction and the meeting was then postponed due to Israeli airstrikes on Iran and amid intense U.S. diplomatic pressure. The strikes led to a pause in public criticism of Israel from Western allies, and Arab states were hard to win round, but discussions continued behind the scenes. Macron, Carney and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer were communicating with each other regularly by phone and texts during June and July, according to a Canadian source with direct knowledge of the events. Canada was wary of acting alone and Britain wanted to ensure any move would have maximum impact, but Macron was more strident. Alarm was growing about images of starving children, and fears were mounting that Israel's Gaza offensive, combined with settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, would further undermine any chance of creating a sovereign Palestinian state. On July 24, Macron made a surprise announcement that France would recognise a Palestinian state at the U.N. General Assembly in September. Neither Britain nor Canada followed immediately. But the relatively muted reaction by U.S. President Donald Trump – saying the statement carried no weight but that Macron was still a "great guy" – brought some reassurance that the diplomatic fallout would be manageable if others went the same way. MACRON, STARMER, MERZ AND CARNEY Macron spoke with Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz two days later to discuss a "sustainable route to a two-state solution", according to Starmer's spokesperson, just before the prime minister was due to meet Trump in Scotland. With Trump, Starmer pressed the case to do more to help Gaza, although, according to Trump, he never explicitly said a recognition plan was on the cards, though Trump has since criticised such moves as "rewarding Hamas". With Trump still in Britain on Tuesday, opening a golf course, Starmer recalled his cabinet from their summer break to get approval for his recognition plan. Britain would recognise a Palestinian state in September unless there was a ceasefire and a lasting peace plan from Israel. Like Macron, Starmer gave Carney a few hours' warning. Once Britain and France had moved, Canada felt it had to follow suit, according to the Canadian source. "International cooperation is essential to securing lasting peace and stability in the Middle East and Canada will do its best to help lead that effort," Carney said on Wednesday, six days after Macron's announcement. In practical terms, the three countries' move will not change much. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed the recognition as "irrelevant" while its other major Group of Seven allies - Germany, Italy and Japan - have given no indication they will follow suit. More than three-quarters of the 193 members of the U.N. General Assembly already independently recognise a Palestinian state. But the opposition of the U.S., with its veto power on the U.N. Security Council, means the U.N. cannot admit Palestine as a full member - a move that would effectively recognise a Palestinian state at global level. However, Richard Gowan, U.N. director at the International Crisis Group, said the declarations mattered "precisely because we are seeing some big U.S. allies catching up with the bulk of the Global South on the Palestinian question at the U.N.". "That makes it a little harder for Israel to write off the pro-recognition camp as irrelevant." © (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025.
