Hezbollah fighters (Shutterstock)
President Aoun pushes for peaceful disarmament of Hezbollah, stresses importance of avoiding another Lebanese civil war.
By World Israel News Staff
The Hezbollah terror group will disarm, and its members may choose to be integrated into the Lebanese National Army by the end of 2025, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun pledged in an interview with Arabic-language media on Wednesday.
“Hezbollah has no intention of being dragged into a new war. I’m working to make 2025 the year when all weapons are exclusively under state control,” Aoun told Al-Araby al-Jadeed.
Aoun clarified that he would not allow Hezbollah to be absorbed into the Lebanese Army as an intact entity, nor would he permit it to be continue operating as its own unit under the auspices of the military.
“Hezbollah members can join the army and undergo integration training, just as members of other [militias] did at the end of the Lebanese Civil War,” the outlet reported Aoun as saying.
He stressed that the Lebanese government is aiming for Hezbollah to peacefully disarm rather than forcing the terror group to surrender its weapons via a confrontation with the Lebanese army.
“We want the weapons withdrawn without triggering a civil war,” he said, adding that the government and Hezbollah are engaged in “bilateral discussions” regarding that process.
Aoun offered extensive praise for Hezbollah during the interview, saying that he told a Trump envoy that the terror group had “acted responsibly” during the ceasefire with Israel. “Hezbollah has shown restraint and a high level of awareness during this period,” Aoun said.
He emphasized that Hezbollah has “not responded” to alleged Israeli violations of the agreement, in what was presumably a reference to Israel assassinating members of the terror group who were posed to attack the Jewish state.
“Hezbollah is ready to discuss the matter of its arms if Israel withdraws from the five points, and halts its aggression against Lebanese,” a senior Hezbollah official told Reuters in early April.
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