Report: 80% of Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon disarmed

Lebanese army reportedly cooperating with Israel to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon and disarm the terror group and various militias that threatened northern Israel.

By World Israel News Staff

The Lebanese military is working to rapidly dismantle Hezbollah forces operating in southern Lebanon, using Israeli intelligence to locate the Iranian-backed terror group’s infrastructure, according to American and Israeli officials.

Last November, Israel, Hezbollah, and the Lebanese government agreed to a ceasefire deal, brokered by France and the Biden administration, according to which Israel would withdraw from Lebanese territory gradually, with Lebanon’s armed forces filling the void south of the Litani River.

As part of the agreement, Beirut was obligated to ensure that Hezbollah forces would not operate in southern Lebanon, with the central government required to exercise its sovereignty over all Lebanese territory, preventing weapons shipments from Iran to Shi’ite militia groups.

With the support of the Trump administration, Israel retained control of five outposts near the Israeli border to ensure enforcement of the ceasefire agreement.

In talks with the White House earlier this year, Jerusalem complained of slow implementation by Beirut of the ceasefire agreement, accusing the Lebanese army of dragging its feet in the crackdown on Hezbollah forces.

Now, however, Lebanon is reportedly working to expedite the dismantling of Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon and the disarming of terror cells in the area.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Wednesday that 80% of the objectives set for southern Lebanon have been met.

“All over the Lebanese territory, the state should have a monopoly on arms,” Salam said.

The cooperation between the Lebanese and Israeli militaries thus far has been entirely indirect, with the United States serving as an intermediary, receiving intelligence information on Hezbollah from Israel and passing it on to Beirut.

Nevertheless, Israeli military officials say the Lebanese army’s progress has beaten expectations.

“We do see a lot of areas where the Lebanese army is way more effective than expected,” one IDF officer said. “The IDF is general pleased by this trend, and we are expecting it to continue.”

Senior Arab officials said that the Lebanese army, using Israeli intelligence, has confiscated large quantities of weapons found. Many intact weapons were retained for use by the army; others have been demolished.

Lebanon is also working to disarm Palestinian Arab militias across the country, in part to ensure that they are unable to carry out attacks on Israel that could spark a new escalation between the two countries.