CAIRO: Egypt on Tuesday urged the international community to better support Lebanon’s armed forces as the country moves forward with a plan to disarm the militant group Hezbollah and bring all weapons under state control.
Speaking at a preparatory meeting in Cairo ahead of next month’s Paris conference in support of the Lebanese army, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty praised “the success of the Lebanese army in completing the first phase of the plan.”
“This achievement reflects the efficiency of the military institution and requires intensifying international support to complete the remaining phases of the plan,” Abdelatty said.
Lebanon’s government last year committed to disarming Hezbollah, which was badly weakened in a recent war with Israel, and tasked the army with drawing up a plan to do so.
Lebanon has since received promises of support, amid a shortage of equipment, personnel and technical capabilities needed to carry out the army’s mission.
Though its capabilities are limited, the military has worked to dismantle Hezbollah facilities and tunnels and confiscate weapons in the last few months.
It declared in January the completion of the first phase of its plan, which tackled the area south of the Litani river, located around 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of Israel.
Lebanon’s military now intends to tackle the area north of the river as the second phase of its plan, having said last week that it would need at least four months to finish the job.
Abdelatty said Tuesday’s meeting aimed “to enable the Lebanese state to ensure that all weapons are held exclusively by the state.”
The meeting brought together Lebanon’s top security chiefs, including Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal and Internal Security Forces Director-General Major General Raed Abdallah.
They were joined by representatives of the Quintet Committee on Lebanon, among them Qatar’s state minister for foreign affairs Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian and Saudi Arabia’s envoy to Beirut Prince Yazid bin Farhan, along with senior officials from the United States.
At a separate meeting with Le Drian, Abdelatty stressed the need for what he described as a comprehensive international approach to the crisis in Lebanon.
“There is no path to restoring stability except by obliging Israel to immediately halt its aggression” and “fully withdraw from occupied Lebanese territories,” he said.
Israel, which accuses Hezbollah of rearming, has criticized the army’s progress as insufficient, and has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with the group.