Report: Hezbollah still cooperating in South Litani disarmament

Conflicting reports have emerged on whether Hezbollah is still cooperating with Lebanese authorities over the handover of its weapons in the area south of the Litani River near Israel’s border.

Political sources told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that “this cooperation has declined, which could lead to delaying the army’s mission in this region.”

But security sources told the same daily that “Hezbollah is still cooperating, at least until the moment.”

“Work is ongoing to dismantle the 10-15% that remain of Hezbollah’s military structure south of the Litani,” the sources said, adding that “the army coordinates with the five-party supervision committee (Mehcanism) and the UNIFIL forces, and sometimes with Hezbollah, to determine the locations it is supposed to enter and dismantle,” the sources added.

The head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc MP Mohammad Raad had hinted in a TV interview that Hezbollah could suspend cooperation with the army south of the Litani in protest at the government’s decisions on arms monopolization.

But Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji told AFP on September 9 that the army is set to fully disarm Hezbollah in the South Litani area within three months.

In August, the Lebanese government ordered the military to draw up plans to disarm the once-dominant militant group by the end of the year, having come under pressure from the United States and Israeli strikes.

Rajji said Army chief General Rodolphe Haykal presented the government with a five-stage plan to ensure all weapons are held by the Lebanese state.

"There will be no warehouses, no weapons, no weapons transfers, no fighters, and no display of arms" in the area, Rajji said, describing the army's plan.

In parallel with the first phase, the army's plan stipulates that "security measures" will be implemented across the country.

The army will "tighten and increase the number of checkpoints, prevent the movement and carrying of weapons... but without conducting raids, arresting individuals, or confiscating weapons from warehouses," Rajji added.

"At the very least, the movement of weapons from one area to another will be prohibited."

Rajji said the next four phases of the plan will see disarmament in other regions, including Beirut and the eastern Bekaa, "but without timelines."

Hezbollah has been severely weakened by a year-long conflict with Israel, including two months of open war, that destroyed part of its arsenal and decimated its leadership.

Lebanon has characterized the disarmament push, which Hezbollah opposes, as part of the implementation of the ceasefire deal that ended the war in November last year.

The agreement also called for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon and an end to strikes on the country, but Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon since then and kept soldiers deployed in five border points it deemed strategic.