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Lebanon's army is set to fully disarm Hezbollah near the border with Israel within three months, Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji told AFP on Tuesday.
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.
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Prime Minister Nawaf Salam noted Tuesday that “Hezbollah granted the government its confidence twice based on its ministerial statement which we are implementing.”
Noting that his relation with Speaker Nabih Berri “has never been severed,” Salam stressed from Ain el-Tineh that “there will be no backing down from the government’s decisions” on weapons monopolization.
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Prime Minister Nawaf Salam met Tuesday in Ain el-Tineh with Speaker Nabih Berri.
MTV described the move as a “reconciliation” visit.
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A security source told AFP that an Israeli strike Tuesday between the Iqlim al-Kharroub towns of Jiye and Barja targeted and wounded a Hezbollah member, after Lebanese state media reported a raid on a vehicle.
Israel has continued to carry out regular air strikes in Lebanon despite a November truce that sought to end more than a year of hostilities including two months of open war with the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
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Prime Minister Nawaf Salam noted Monday that “Lebanon’s stability is not only a Lebanese need but also a joint Arab need,” stressing that the government “will carry on with the implementation of its decisions as to the monopolization of arms in the hands of the state across Lebanon.”
“After it returned to its natural position among its Arab brothers, Lebanon needs boosting support for the Lebanese Army, seeing as it is the main pillar for protecting the country,” Salam added.
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Israel has asked through the U.S. that the Lebanese Army begins its disarmament plan from the Baalbek and Hermel regions, claiming that they are “a hub for advanced missiles and drones,” an informed source said.
Israel submitted to the U.S.-led ceasefire committee “dozens of coordinates to be submitted to the army for inspection,” the source told the pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper in remarks published Monday.
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U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus and U.S. Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper heard Sunday from Lebanon’s representative in the ceasefire committee a detailed briefing about the Lebanese Army’s plan for arms monopolization and what has been achieved until the moment, informed sources said.
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Hezbollah MP Ali Fayyad said Monday that the Israeli withdrawal should be the priority and not Hezbollah's disarmament, adding that "unbiased polls have showed that the majority of the Lebanese people reject the government's decision (to disarm Hezbollah)."
Fayyad assured that the army, which was tasked with the disarmament plan, won't be dragged into a conflict with Hezbollah. "The Lebanese army is keen on maintaining unity and peace," he said.
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Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has told Hezbollah that its problem will not be with a party but rather with the state and the army, if it insists on keeping its arms.
"We will no longer accept non-Lebanese decisions or allow one group to control the fate of the Lebanese people. Lebanon comes first, above all else," the christian leader said, days after Cabinet approved a plan prepared by the army to monopolize weapons in the war-hit country.
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U.S. President Donald Trump has responded to a Lebanese reporter’s question about Hezbollah’s perceived refusal to turn in its weapons to the Lebanese state.
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