Lebanon tasks army with limiting arms to state forces in challenge to Hezbollah

6/8/2025 7:11

Lebanon's cabinet on Tuesday tasked the army with drawing up a plan to establish a state monopoly on arms by the end of the year, a challenge to Hezbollah, which has rejected calls to disarm since last year's devastating war with Israel.



The Iran-backed group is under pressure from its rivals in Lebanon and from Washington, who want Lebanon's ministers to publicly commit to disarming the party and worry that Israel could intensify strikes on Lebanon if they fail to do so.



The session at Lebanon's presidential palace was the first time the cabinet addressed Hezbollah's weapons - unimaginable when the group was at the zenith of its power just two years ago.



Ministers met for nearly six hours. In a concluding statement, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the cabinet had authorized Lebanon's army to develop a plan to ensure that all arms across the country would be confined to six specific state security forces by the end of the year.