Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun has said that Lebanese political parties need to seize the opportunity and hand over their weapons sooner rather than later.
Beirut is demanding "the extension of the Lebanese state's authority over all its territory, the removal of weapons from all armed groups, including Hezbollah and their handover to the Lebanese army," Aoun said in a speech to mark Army Day on Thursday.
His speech came after a heated internal and international debate over Lebanon’s arms monopoly and Hezbollah’s disarmament at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting.
"It is the duty of all political parties... to seize this historic opportunity without hesitation and push for the exclusivity of weapons in the hands of the army and security forces and no one else," Aoun added.
The US has pushed Lebanon to issue a formal cabinet decision committing to disarm Hezbollah before talks can resume, according to a Reuters report.
The US has said it will only support reconstruction efforts and push for an Israeli military pause if Hezbollah is fully disarmed across Lebanon.
Aoun said a proposal to Washington — that will be presented to the cabinet next week —states that Israel should stop its attacks on Lebanon and withdraw from the posts it occupies in the south of the country, along with Hezbollah handing over its weaponry to the Lebanese army.
The proposal seeks to secure $1 billion annually for 10 years to support the army and the security forces and includes plans for hosting an international conference later in the year to support reconstruction efforts in Lebanon.
Hezbollah refuses to disarm
Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Wednesday that calls for disarmament served only Israel.
"Those who call for submitting arms practically demand submitting them to Israel ... We will not submit to Israel," Qassem said in a televised address.
“Disarmament is not a priority right now; the priority is reconstruction and ending the aggression.”
Hezbollah emerged badly damaged from a war with Israel last year that eliminated most of the group's leadership, killed thousands of its members and left tens of thousands of its supporters displaced from their destroyed homes.
Lebanon is still staggering under the consequences of Hezbollah’s conflict with Israel and the financial ruin that began in 2019.
The World Bank said in March that Lebanon would need approximately $11 billion for recovery after the war with Hezbollah and Israel.
Some $4.6 billion of the damage costs were to the housing sector alone, according to the World Bank.
