'Convince to give up those arms': Lebanon to roll out plan to disarm Hezbollah; US envoy says army and government in talks

Lebanon will layout a plan on Sunday aimed at persuading Hezbollah to lay down arms, with Israel expected to respond with a framework for a military withdrawal, top US envoy Thomas Barrack said on Tuesday. Speaking after talks with President Joseph Aoun in Beirut, Barrack stressed that the Lebanese proposal would not involve military confrontation but would instead focus on convincing Hezbollah to surrender its arsenal, including by addressing the financial dependence of its fighters on Iranian funding. “The Lebanese government and army are not preparing for war. They are working on ways to encourage Hezbollah to give up its weapons,” Barrack said. Earlier this month, the Lebanese cabinet tasked the army with drafting a blueprint to establish state monopoly over weapons. The decision has sparked outrage within Hezbollah, which maintains that such moves only serve Israeli interests. Israel, meanwhile, signalled on Monday that it was willing to scale down its military presence in southern Lebanon if Beirut’s forces acted against the Iran-backed Shi’ite militia. Barrack, who also met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, described the development as “historic”. “What Israel has now said is: we do not want to occupy Lebanon. We are ready to withdraw, and we will present our withdrawal plan once there is clarity on how Hezbollah will be disarmed,” he said. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, after meeting the US delegation, underlined that Lebanon was on an “irreversible path” to bring all weapons under state control, with the army expected to present a comprehensive proposal by next week. Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem, however, struck a defiant note. In a recorded speech aired Monday, he criticised the government’s decision, urging officials to reconsider. Pulling back, he said, “would be a virtue.” While no formal documents have been exchanged yet, Barrack noted that verbal commitments from both sides suggested “a narrowing path toward implementation.” Barrack stressed that disarmament talks could not ignore the livelihoods of tens of thousands of Hezbollah fighters and their families, who rely heavily on salaries provided by Tehran. “When we say disarm Hezbollah, we are talking about 40,000 people who are being paid by Iran. We cannot simply ask them to hand over their weapons and tell them to plant olive trees. We need to create alternatives,” he said.Gulf nations including Saudi Arabia and Qatar are prepared to back Lebanon’s economy, particularly in Hezbollah’s southern strongholds, as part of a wider initiative to replace Iran’s payroll system. He added that discussions were under way to set up an “economic forum” involving the Gulf states, the US and Lebanese authorities to create sustainable livelihoods “not dependent on whether Iran wants it or not.”