Cabinet tasks army with disarmament plan; Israel looking at full occupation of Gaza: Everything you need to know this Wednesday
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L'Orient-Le Jour
7 hours ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
‘Youth of Dahieh' calls for mass rally on Airport Road at 9 p.m. to oppose Hezbollah disarmament efforts
A group called 'The Youth of Dahieh' called for a mass mobilization on Saturday in a statement announcing a popular march to oppose 'any attempt to disarm the resistance' at 9 p.m. on Airport Road. 'We call on you to raise your voices in defense of the weapons that have safeguarded the homeland,' the statement said. Since Monday, Hezbollah supporters have been voicing their opposition to any attempts to disarm the party. Seven protesters were arrested and later released by the Lebanese Army on Friday night, a source at the army told L'Orient Today on Saturday. The government of Nawaf Salam announced Tuesday that it had tasked the army with preparing a plan to implement the disarmament of militias, including Hezbollah, before the end of the year. On Thursday, the cabinet approved the 'objectives' defined in the roadmap proposed by U.S. envoy Tom Barrack to ensure proper implementation of the cease-fire agreement. This agreement came into effect on Nov. 27, 2024, after 13 months of war between Hezbollah and Israel, but is violated almost daily by the Israeli state, which continues to occupy five points in southern Lebanon and carry out attacks in several regions of the country. At the same time, Tel Aviv accuses Hezbollah of seeking to rebuild its infrastructure south of the Litani River. The 'Barrack Plan' envisions the disarmament of Hezbollah and other armed groups by the end of the year, along with a series of other measures, such as implementing reforms, supporting the Lebanese Army, and delimiting borders with Syria and Israel. The protests on Thursday and Friday nights against this plan took the form of dozens of motorcycle convoys whose drivers and passengers, waving Hezbollah's yellow flags, traveled through various areas of the country, notably the southern suburbs of Beirut. On Saturday, the Lebanese Army stated that it will tolerate no violation 'of security or civil peace,' nor any road closures, in response to the previous evening's demonstrations by Hezbollah supporters protesting the government's decision to disarm the party-militia by the end of the year. A source within the army also confirmed that seven people were briefly arrested on the sidelines of the convoys.
L'Orient-Le Jour
7 hours ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Iran opposes the disarmament of Hezbollah, says a Khamenei adviser
An adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Saturday that his country opposes the Lebanese government's decision to disarm Hezbollah, the movement allied with Tehran, according to a local media report. Last Tuesday, the government of Nawaf Salam announced it had tasked the army with preparing a plan to implement the disarmament of militias, including Hezbollah, before the end of the year. Two days later, the cabinet approved the 'objectives' laid out in a roadmap proposed by U.S. envoy Tom Barrack to ensure the proper implementation of the ceasefire agreement, which came into effect on Nov. 27, 2024, after 13 months of war between Hezbollah and Israel. 'Iran has always helped the Lebanese people and the Resistance' 'The Islamic Republic of Iran is certainly opposed to the disarmament of Hezbollah, because Iran has always helped the Lebanese people and the Resistance, and continues to do so,' Ali Akbar Velayati said in an interview with the Tasnim news agency. On Thursday, the deputy commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Brigadier General Iraj Masjedi, also commented on the Salam government's decision. He asserted that Hezbollah 'will never be disarmed.' 'The American-Zionist axis will not succeed in disarming the 'Resistance,'' he insisted. Recent remarks by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had already sparked outrage in the Land of the Cedars. He had stated that Iran would support any decision taken by the Shiite party. According to comments cited by some local media but absent from the transcript of an interview published by the Islamic Republic News Agency, Araghchi had also said the Hezbollah disarmament plan 'is doomed to fail.' Lebanese Foreign Minister Joe Raggi denounced this as 'Iranian interference.' The 'Barrack Plan' calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah and other armed groups by the end of the year, along with a set of other measures, such as implementing a series of reforms, supporting the Lebanese Army, and demarcating the borders with Syria and Israel.
L'Orient-Le Jour
11 hours ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
At least 6 Lebanese soldiers killed in an explosion in a tunnel near Majdal Zoun
At least seven Lebanese soldiers were killed in an ammunition explosion in the Wadi Hassan area near Majdal Zoun, in the Sour district of southern Lebanon, our correspondent in the south reports, citing local residents. The blast also injured several troops. According to residents, it appears that a group of soldiers entered a tunnel containing ammunition, which then exploded. Our correspondent specifies that four of the soldiers killed were part of the 5th Brigade, and two belonged to the engineering regiment. The injured were quickly transferred to regional hospitals to receive necessary medical care. The Lebanese Army has not yet officially commented on the tragedy. Salam's tribute Prime Minister Nawaf Salam paid tribute on X (formerly Twitter) to the fallen soldiers. 'With great pain, Lebanon mourns the sons of its valiant army who fell as martyrs in the South while fulfilling their national duty.' 'All of Lebanon, state and people, bows in homage to their sacrifices and precious blood, which reaffirm that our army is the guarantor of security, the bulwark of sovereignty, and the protector of the nation's unity and its legitimate institutions,' he wrote. Demining operations Since the end of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, the troops have continued deploying thousands of soldiers south of the Litani River, a region from which the party-militia is also expected to withdraw as stipulated in the cease-fire agreement that came into effect at the end of November 2024, ending over 13 months of conflict. Despite the truce, Israeli violations continue almost daily, with strikes and fire from the Israeli army, which still occupies five positions in Lebanese territory. Since the start of the truce, the Lebanese army has been conducting demining operations in areas bombarded by Israel. On several occasions, the troops have had to unearth ammunition and missiles buried underground after passing through buildings that were hit. The army also reports nearly daily detonations of munitions explosions in its training fields. On Thursday, the French army's general staff and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) announced that the Blue Helmets and the Lebanese army discovered in southern Lebanon a 'network' of Hezbollah tunnels as well as weapons and hundreds of munitions. Last April, three Lebanese soldiers were killed and five civilians injured in an explosion of munitions being transported in a van belonging to the Lebanese Army's engineering department in Breiké, in the Nabatieh region. Additionally, automatic gunfire was reportedly fired on Saturday from the Israeli site known as the 'radar' located on the Shebaa Farms — part of the Syrian Golan Heights annexed by Israel and disputed between Damascus, Beirut, and Tel Aviv — towards its surroundings, according to our correspondent. According to a tally by L'Orient Today, based on figures from the U.N. and the Ministry of Health, the number of people killed in Lebanon by Israeli attacks, strikes, and fire amounts to at least 302 deaths since the ceasefire came into effect. This adds to the 4,047 deaths and 16,638 injuries officially recorded by the Ministry of Health in a report published in early December.
