Shiite ministers walk out of a cabinet meeting over plan to disarm Hezbollah

BEIRUT (AP):

Shiite members of Lebanon’s cabinet walked out of a government meeting on Thursday in protest of a proposed plan to disarm the Hezbollah militant group and political organisation. The rest of the cabinet then voted in favour of the US-backed plan to disarm the group and implement a ceasefire with Israel.

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.

The four ministers who walked out before the vote included members of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc and the allied Amal party, as well as independent Shiite parliamentarian Fadi Makki.

Makki said 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 in the small nation 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 airstrikes. The strikes have killed or wounded hundreds of people, most of them Hezbollah members, since the latest Hezbollah-Israel war ended in November.

Israel has accused Hezbollah of trying to rebuild its military capabilities and said it is protecting its border. Since the ceasefire, Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for one attack across the border.