US piles pressure on Lebanese army and government to accelerate Hezbollah disarmament

The US is increasing pressure on Lebanon to show concrete progress on disarming Hezbollah, as frustration grows within the Trump administration over what it sees as slow and uneven implementation on the ground, four American and Lebanese sources have told The National.

A visit to Washington this week by Lebanese army commander Gen Rodolphe Haykal was cancelled after the Lebanese Armed Forces denounced Israeli “enemy” attacks inside Lebanon. Lebanese military and security sources said the cancellation was intended as a message: Washington is losing patience with Beirut’s leadership over the stalled disarmament effort.

There’s a sense in Lebanon that Washington believes the army is not capable of doing the job, a senior Lebanese military official told The National, speaking on condition of anonymity, like others in this article, to discuss sensitive matters.

The US is one of the Lebanese army's most important backers, providing more than $3 billion in support over the past two decades. The policy aims to bolster state institutions in a country where Iran-backed Hezbollah has long held military and political power.

Last year, Lebanon and Israel agreed to a US and French-brokered ceasefire. Under the terms, Hezbollah and Israeli forces were required to withdraw from southern Lebanon, where UN peacekeepers were deployed alongside the Lebanese army to help dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure.

But Israel is still occupying five positions it considers strategically vital and continues to carry out daily strikes in Lebanon on what it says are Hezbollah targets.

The cancellation of Gen Haykal’s trip was a “visible warning” to Lebanon and its military apparatus, a US source close to the administration said.

“The US is signalling it will not sustain co-operation indefinitely if core strategic priorities – disarming Hezbollah, siding with Israel and managing the Lebanese-Israeli border – are not addressed,” said the American source.

Lebanon adopted an unprecedented plan to disarm Hezbollah in September and has touted significant progress south of the Litani River, the zone closest to Israel. However, Israel accuses Beirut of moving too slowly and Hezbollah of quietly rearming.

US Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus in a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. AFP

President Joseph Aoun has said the Lebanese army is fully performing its duties south of the Litani and is expanding its deployment daily. The army has also said it has completed most of the first phase of its operations in the region, which is set to contin