https://arab.news/b829u
- President Joseph Aoun says attacks ‘demonstrate Israel’s continued defiance of international will; Prime Minister Nawaf Salam says they breach ceasefire deal and international law
- Lebanese Cabinet will meet on Friday to hear army’s strategy for disarming Hezbollah and other militias, and establishing state control over all military weapons
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun on Thursday condemned persistent Israeli attacks on his country, in some cases close to peacekeepers from the UN Interim Force in Lebanon.
It came the day before a Cabinet meeting during which the Lebanese army was due to unveil its strategy for disarming Hezbollah and other militias, and establishing exclusive state control over military weapons throughout the country.
Aoun said the Israeli attacks “demonstrate Israel’s continued defiance of international will,” as the UN Security Council recently called for an end to hostile operations against Lebanon.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam described the assaults as “a flagrant breach of the November ceasefire agreement, UN Resolution 1701, and international law.”
He said: “The international community’s credibility hangs in the balance as it must act immediately to force Israel to stop these violations and respect Lebanese sovereignty and civilian safety.”
Resolution 1701 was adopted by the UN Security Council in 2006 with the aim of resolving the conflict that year between Israel and Hezbollah. It called for an end to hostilities, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, the withdrawal of Hezbollah and other forces from parts of the country south of the Litani River, and the disarmament of Hezbollah and other non-state armed groups.
Attacks on Lebanon by Israeli forces, who claim to be targeting Hezbollah infrastructure and operatives, have persisted over the past two days.
Israel’s military said it struck “a Hezbollah facility in Ansariyeh used for storing engineering equipment,” but the owner of the site said a warehouse that was bombed contained only privately owned bulldozers that were under repair, and denied any connection to Hezbollah.
On Wednesday, Israel launched airstrikes across territories north and south of the Litani River, pummeling communities in Shebaa, Taybeh, Yater, Kharayeb, the corridor between Adloun and Abu Al-Aswad, and the valley linking Babliyeh with Adloun. Several civilians, including Syrian laborers, were reported killed or injured by the bombardments.
Israeli military officials said that they had killed “Abdul Munim Sweidan, identified as a Hezbollah commander in Yater.”
Since the Nov. 27 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah came into force, more than 264 people have been reported killed and 540 wounded in Lebanon by continuing Israeli strikes.
Lebanese army commander Gen. Rudolf Haykal is due to unveil the military’s disarmament plans during a cabinet meeting on Friday. Officials have voiced concerns that Hezbollah might use the latest Israeli offensive as a justification if it refuses to surrender its weapons and confronts the government more aggressively.
Lebanese leaders say the decision by the Cabinet on Aug. 5 to task the Lebanese army with developing a plan to disarm Hezbollah and establish a state monopoly on all military weapons by the end of the year stems from constitutional obligations under the 1989 Taif Agreement and international mandates.
However, Hezbollah and its Amal Movement allies object to the timeline set for the disarmament process and want more time to deliberate, a demand that was rejected by the prime minister and other government officials. In response, Hezbollah threatened to boycott the Cabinet and organize public demonstrations.
A military source said the disarmament plan will focus on a number of key points, including “the collection of arms south and north of the Litani River, in villages and valleys far from the border region.”
A subsequent phase will cover the southern suburbs of Beirut and Baalbek-Hermel Governorate, where long-range missiles are stored, the source added.
An official source also told Arab News that the Lebanese army has already confiscated more than 80 percent of heavy, medium-range and light weapons south of the Litani.
“The search is underway for Hezbollah’s military arsenal, as neither the Lebanese army nor Hezbollah’s current leadership know its storage locations, due to Israeli assassinations of the former leadership, particularly since Hezbollah adopts secrecy in its military operations,” the source added.
It was not known whether ministers representing Hezbollah and the Amal Movement intend to walk out of the Cabinet session at the Presidential Palace on Friday after hearing the army’s disarmament plan.
Salam said he would be “pushing for the adoption of the plan without resorting to a vote, provided that it does not include a specific timeline for completion but instead leaves the matter to the army’s leadership.
“This is because the implementation steps remain secret and fall solely within the authority of the military leadership, particularly given the lack of comprehensive knowledge about what might be found above and below the ground, and the duration of the confiscation operations, while taking public safety measures into consideration.”
Pro-Hezbollah activists issued provocative calls on social media for public protests to coincide with the Cabinet session on Friday.
US envoy Morgan Ortagus was scheduled to return to Beirut at the end of this week, accompanied by the recently retired former head of US Central Command, Gen. Michael Kurilla.
According to media reports, the visit is security-related and the Americans will meet the Lebanese army commander and other security officials, as well as the members of the international Quintet Committee (comprising representatives from , Qatar, Egypt, the US and France) that is overseeing the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, to discuss the army’s disarmament plan, the situation in southern Lebanon, and the army’s operational needs.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s grand mufti, Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, defended the Cabinet’s decision to ensure possession of all military weapons is restricted to the state.
On the anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, Derian said: “The demand to confine weapons to the state is an inherently Lebanese demand. We may disagree on major or minor issues, but we mustn’t disagree on reclaiming the state from corruption and weapons.
“No state has two armies. The armed militias spread across several Arab countries have obstructed, and continue to obstruct, the establishment of a state for all citizens, not for those who bear arms. There must be no disagreement over the state and the army.”
During a meeting, Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc criticized the government and urged it to “stop offering concessions to the enemy, reverse its unpatriotic decision that violates the National Pact regarding the weapons of the resistance, abandon related plans, and revert to the principles of consensus and dialogue.”