Lebanon backs US proposal for Hezbollah to disarm and IDF to withdraw from south

Lebanon's government approved a US proposal on Thursday that would see the disarmament of the militant group Hezbollah and the Israeli military withdrawal from the south of the country, Report informs via Euronews.

Tensions have been rising in Lebanon amid increased domestic and international pressure for Hezbollah to give up its remaining arsenal after a bruising war with Israel that ended last November with a US-brokered ceasefire.

Hezbollah itself has doubled down on its refusal to disarm.

Four Shiite ministers walked out before the vote. They included members of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc and the allied Amal party, as well as independent Shiite parliamentarian Fadi Makki.

Makki said in a post on X that he had "tried to work on bridging the gaps and bringing viewpoints closer between all parties, but I didn’t succeed."

He said he decided to pull out of the meeting after the other Shiite ministers left.

"I couldn’t bear the responsibility of making such a significant decision in the absence of a key component from the discussion," he said.

The Lebanese government asked the national army on Tuesday to prepare a plan in which only state institutions will have weapons by the end of the year.

After the Cabinet meeting, Hezbollah accused the government of caving in to United States and Israeli pressure and said it would "treat this decision as if it does not exist."

Information Minister Paul Morcos later said the Cabinet had voted to adopt a list of general goals laid out in a proposal submitted by US envoy Tom Barrack to Lebanese officials.

They include the "gradual end of the armed presence of all non-state actors, including Hezbollah, in all Lebanese territory," the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, a halt to Israeli airstrikes and the release of Lebanese prisoners held in Israel, as well as the eventual demarcation of the still-disputed Lebanon-Israel border, he said.

The details of the US proposal are still under discussion, Morcos added.

Hezbollah officials have said the group will not discuss giving up its remaining arsenal until Israel withdraws from five hills it is occupying inside Lebanon and stops almost daily air strikes.