Lebanese Cabinet Approves Objectives of US Proposal on Hezbollah as Shiite Ministers Walk Out of Meeting

Asharq Al-Awsat

5 days ago

Lebanon's information minister said the cabinet had approved on Thursday only the objectives of a US proposal for disarming Hezbollah by the end of the year, along with ending Israel's military operations in the country, but they did not discuss the full details of it.
The objectives of the proposal include phasing out the armed presence of non-state actors including Hezbollah, deploying Lebanese forces to key border and internal areas, ensuring Israel's withdrawal from the five positions, resolving prisoner issues through indirect talks, and permanently demarcating Lebanon's borders with Israel and Syria.
Four Shiite members of the cabinet withdrew from the government meeting to protest the proposed plan to disarm Hezbollah.
They included members of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc and the allied Amal party, as well as independent Shiite parliamentarian Fadi Makki. The meeting was adjourned after their exit.
Makki said on the social media platform X that he had 'tried to work on bridging the gaps and bringing viewpoints closer between all parties, but I didn't succeed.'
He said he had decided to withdraw from the meeting after the other Shiite ministers left. 'I couldn't bear the responsibility of making such a significant decision in the absence of a key component from the discussion," he said.
The Lebanese government asked the national army on Tuesday to prepare a plan in which only state institutions will have weapons by the end of the year. The discussions were set to continue Thursday.
After Tuesday's cabinet meeting, Hezbollah accused the government of caving to US and Israeli pressure and said it would 'treat this decision as if it does not exist.'
Hezbollah officials have said the group will not discuss giving up its remaining arsenal until Israel withdraws from five hills it is occupying inside Lebanon and stops almost daily airstrikes. The strikes have killed or wounded hundreds of people, most of them Hezbollah members, since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war ended in November with a US-brokered ceasefire.
US envoy Tom Barrack said on Thursday Lebanon's government had taken a "historic" decision this week by moving to disarm Hezbollah, which Washington has pushed for.
In a post on X, Barrack congratulated Lebanese leaders "for making the historic, bold, and correct decision this week to begin fully implementing" a November ceasefire which ended more than a year of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, and stipulated that weapons in Lebanon be restricted to government agencies only.
"This week's cabinet resolutions finally put into motion the 'One Nation, One Army' solution for Lebanon. We stand behind the Lebanese people," Barrack said.