Lebanese President Joseph Aoun admitted today that disarming Hezbollah is a "sensitive issue" and imposing it by force could lead the country to ruin, while Israeli forces continue to target the Iran-backed Shiite group.
For the Lebanese president elected last January and former army commander, the state monopoly on weapons is a "sensitive, delicate and fundamental issue for the preservation of civil peace", but it must be approached with "discernment and responsibility" when it comes to Hezbollah.
"We will implement it", the head of state told reporters today, but recommended that it be delayed "until circumstances allow", ruling out a framework of "timetable or pressure".
Hezbollah was for a long time the dominant force in Lebanon, but it emerged weakened from more than a year of hostilities with Israel, including two months of open conflict that cost the lives of several of its senior leaders and military officials.
On Friday, Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem said he would not allow the political and military group to disarm while Israeli troops remain in southern Lebanon and its aircraft regularly violate Lebanese airspace.
"Controversial internal issues can only be addressed in a spirit of dialogue and consultation, without confrontation. Otherwise, we will lead Lebanon to ruin," the Lebanese president warned today.
Joseph Aoun also said he was ready to engage in dialogue on a "defense strategy," but insisted he rejected "the pressure of occupation and aggression," in a reference to Israel, which continues to bomb Hezbollah positions and maintain troops in the south of the country.
Lebanese Health Ministry said in a statement today that at least two people were killed and two others were injured in separate Israeli airstrikes on two cities in the south of the country.
The Israeli army later announced that it had killed the deputy head of Hezbollah's weapons acquisition unit in a drone strike.
Hussein Ali Nasr, deputy commander of Hezbollah's Unit 4400, was killed in a strike in Kaouthariyet al-Saiyad, in the south of the country between Sidon and Tyre, according to Israeli forces, in a report confirmed by the Beirut authorities, who did not identify the victim as a Hezbollah member.
Israel attributes to Ali Nasr the responsibility of smuggling, with Iranian support, "weapons and money to restore the military capabilities of the terrorist organization Hezbollah", including through Beirut airport.
The recent Israeli attacks on Unit 4400 involved the assassinations of the unit’s chief, Muhammad Jafar Qasir, in Beirut in early October 2024, and his successor, Ali Hasan Gharib, in Damascus, Syria, several weeks later, along with other senior commanders of the radical group.
The Lebanese military authorities announced today that they had arrested several people who were allegedly planning to launch rockets at Israel and confiscated their weapons.
The army said its troops raided an apartment near the southern port city of Sidon and confiscated some of the rockets and launchers and detained several people who were involved in the operation.
On Wednesday, several other people were arrested, including Palestinians, who were allegedly involved in firing rockets at Israel in two attacks in late March, which in turn triggered a wave of heavy Israeli bombardments in several parts of Lebanon. Hezbollah denied at the time that it was behind the offensive against Israel.
Despite a ceasefire agreed in November to end a 14-month war between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli air strikes have killed dozens of people in Lebanon since then, including members of the Lebanese armed group but also civilians. At the same time, Israel maintains troops in five positions it considers strategic in southern Lebanon, where a United Nations international deployment is also stationed, claiming to be acting in defence of its territory.
The most recent period of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah began on October 8, 2023, the day after the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israeli territory, which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.
For about a year, Israel and Hezbollah engaged in an almost daily exchange of fire along the Israeli-Lebanese border, and, starting in September last year, Israeli forces launched a massive bombing campaign in the neighboring country, including south of Beirut.
In addition to eliminating senior Hezbollah figures, this offensive has resulted in more than 4,000 deaths in Lebanon and more than 1.2 million displaced people, according to Lebanese authorities.
No comments:
Post a Comment