Amman Today

publish date 2026-02-17 05:23:00

The Lebanese government said Monday that the army needs at least four months to implement the second phase of the plan to disarm Hezbollah in the south of the country.

Hezbollah had fought a war with Israel that lasted more than a year, ending in November 2024 with a ceasefire, without that preventing the Hebrew state from continuing to launch bloody strikes while keeping its forces in five strategic hills in southern Lebanon, even though the agreement stipulated their complete withdrawal.

The war with Israel left the party in a weaker position. In August, the Lebanese government approved the plan to disarm Hezbollah, and assigned the army to implement it, with implementation to begin the following month.

In early January, the army announced the completion of the first phase of the plan, which included the area south of the Litani River (about 30 km from the southern border with Israel).

However, Israel doubted the seriousness of the step and considered it insufficient, and continued to launch bloody strikes that it said were aimed at preventing the party, which refuses to surrender its weapons, from rebuilding its military capabilities.

Read alsoThe Lebanese Prime Minister visits destroyed southern towns and pledges to rebuild them

During a press conference that followed a cabinet session, Lebanese Information Minister Paul Morcos explained that the government “took note of the army command’s presentation of the monthly report on the plan to restrict weapons in all Lebanese regions in implementation of the cabinet’s decision” related to disarming the party.

He added, “If the same auxiliary factors are available, the required time period is four months, which can be extended depending on the available capabilities, Israeli attacks, and field obstacles.”

The Lebanese army’s plan is based on five successive stages, the second of which includes the area confined between the north of the Litani River and the Awali River, which flows north of Sidon, about sixty kilometers from the border, and about forty kilometers south of Beirut.

As for Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem, he said in a speech he delivered on Monday during a party ceremony that “what the Lebanese government is doing by focusing on disarmament is a major sin because this issue achieves the goals of the Israeli aggression.”

He went on to say, “Stop every move aimed at restricting weapons,” considering that “the government’s performance is responsible, to some extent, for this enemy’s greed to continue due to the successive concessions and responses to pressure” exerted on the Lebanese authorities.

France 24/AFP

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World News

Source 1 : https://www.france24.com/ar/الشرق-الأوسط/20260217-لبنان-الحكومة-تمنح-الجيش-مهلة-4-أشهر-قابلة-للتجديد-المرحلة-الثانية-من-نزع-سلاح-حزب-الله

Source 2 : ألدستور