‘Far From Sufficient’: Israel Criticizes Lebanon’s Underwhelming Results in Disarming Hezbollah

Latest Developments

Israel Says Hezbollah Rearming at Alarming Speed: Israel’s Foreign Ministry stated on January 8 that Lebanese optimism regarding the disarmament of the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization south of the Litani River — as mandated under UN Security Council Resolution 1701 — was premature. While acknowledging “the decision of the Lebanese government to address the disarmament of Hezbollah and some of the efforts the LAF [Lebanese Armed Forces] have made in this context,” the statement assessed that Hezbollah continues to “rearm with the support of Iran,” emphasizing that the terrorist organization is “rearming faster than it is being disarmed.” According to Israeli officials, LAF operations to disarm the group have yielded “far from sufficient” results, while Israeli airstrikes against Hezbollah infrastructure “do not delay the goal of disarming the organization” but rather “advance it.”
Lebanese Government Claims First Phase of Disarmament Successful: Israel’s statement came after the LAF claimed that the first phase of its operation to disarm non-state groups in Lebanon had concluded. The statement, which did not explicitly name Hezbollah, was endorsed by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, whose office subsequently called for a halt to Israeli airstrikes, a complete IDF withdrawal from positions it holds in Lebanese territory, and the release of Lebanese prisoners detained by Israel. Lebanese Information Minister Paul Morcos said that the LAF will begin to work on a plan to disarm non-state groups north of the Litani, while increasing the “containment” of existing weapons in other areas of the country.
Trump’s ‘Green Light’: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told members of his cabinet that President Donald Trump had given him the “green light” for a renewed offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon following his meeting with the U.S. leader in late December. The IDF has increasingly struck Hezbollah targets in recent weeks, including several weapons storage facilities and military structures “above and below ground, that were used to advance attacks against IDF soldiers” and Israel on January 5. It also conducted strikes against multiple Hezbollah terrorists in the southern Lebanese towns of Kherbet Selem on January 6, Jouiyya on January 7, and Zaita on January 8.

FDD Expert Response

“Unless this report of the LAF’s progress signals the start of an ongoing, consistent pattern of normalizing public seizures of Hezbollah’s assets and military installations — accompanied by metrics showing these actions are degrading the group’s arsenal, stymying its regeneration efforts, and constraining its freedom of action — then it will unfortunately end up as another disappointing cosmetic action on the part of Beirut.” — David Daoud, Senior Fellow

“The Lebanese government has not shown sufficient courage in confronting Hezbollah. The acknowledgment that ‘work in the sector is still ongoing’ betrays that insufficient progress has been made. But Beirut hopes it can finesse this, securing national credit by obtaining concessions from Israel while continuing to procrastinate. It is a forlorn hope because Israel’s experience in recent years has left it firmly opposed to allowing Hezbollah latitude to reconstitute as a cross-border threat. It may take another round of Israeli military strikes to ensure this point is fully understood and accepted. The United States should back Israel in ruling out any backsliding to the catastrophic situation that existed before October 2023.” — Edmund Fitton-Brown, Senior Fellow

“Even if we assume that Lebanon did clear the area south of the Litani River — which is absolutely not the case — Hezbollah remains heavily armed throughout the rest of the country, with its chain of command intact and working on regaining its strength. Lebanon can only stave off what seems to be a looming war with Israel by comprehensively and transparently disarming Hezbollah.” — Hussain Abdul-Hussain, Research Fellow