The head of Lebanon’s army agreed to document its progress in disarming Hezbollah during talks Thursday with international envoys in Paris, the French foreign ministry said, as Beirut seeks to forestall expanded Israeli attacks.
Israel and Hezbollah clashed for more than a year after the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, and a November 2024 ceasefire was meant to put an end to the hostilities, but Israel has kept up its strikes, accusing the group of rearming.
Fearing further escalation and facing diplomatic pressure from Washington, Lebanon approved a plan for its army to disarm Hezbollah south of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the border with Israel, by the end of the year.
But Israel has questioned the effectiveness of the Lebanese military, and Hezbollah itself has repeatedly rejected calls to surrender its arms.
Thursday’s meetings showed “progress in implementing the plan to restore the Lebanese state’s monopoly on weapons”, French foreign ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux said at a briefing.
Lebanese army chief Rodolphe Haykal outlined the “specific needs of the Lebanese Armed Forces” to continue this work, Confavreux added.
He said the officials agreed on the need to “seriously document these advances”, adding they were “working on this within the framework of the ceasefire monitoring mechanism”.
Sources familiar with the talks said they were chaired by French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian and attended by US and Saudi envoys Morgan Ortagus and Yazid bin Farhan, respectively.
“There is indeed this December 31 deadline. Our job is to support Lebanese efforts to meet it,” Confavreux said. “And if it needs to be extended, partners will discuss it.”
For now, actions on the ground, such as dismantling weapons caches and tunnel networks, must be documented, he said.
The ceasefire monitoring mechanism allows the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon to support the army’s documentation efforts in the field, two sources familiar with the matter noted.
French contingents are also expected to take part in the documentation effort.
The participants agreed to create a joint task force to hold a conference in support of the Lebanese army in early 2026, the Elysee said in a statement.
Israeli strikes have killed about 340 people since the ceasefire began, according to an AFP tally of health ministry reports.
Israel also maintains troops in five border areas of southern Lebanon that it deems strategic.
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© Agence France-Presse
