Israel has threatened to launch a new full-scale war if Hezbollah is not disarmed before the end of the year
News Desk - The Cradle
The US and Israel have pushed the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah since a US-backed ceasefire was reached in November 2024.
Israeli strikes killed at least 3,768 Lebanese during the war. Since the ceasefire was signed, Israel has continued to bomb resistance targets in Lebanon, killing both Hezbollah fighters and civilians. The resistance movement has not retaliated.
Israeli officials have threatened to launch a new full-scale war if the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) does not disarm Hezbollah by the end of this year.
“With growing fear the ceasefire could unravel, the Paris meeting aims to create more robust conditions to identify, support, and verify the disarmament process and dissuade Israel from escalation,” Reuters wrote, citing four European and Lebanese diplomats.
Israel has killed another 340 Lebanese since the ceasefire went into effect.
“The situation is extremely precarious, full of contradictions, and it won't take much to light the powder keg,” said one senior official.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun “doesn't want to make the disarmament process too public because he fears it will antagonise and provoke tensions with the Shia community in the south of the country,” the official added.
The meeting in Paris will seek to reinforce the existing ceasefire mechanism with US and French military advisors, as well as UN peacekeeping forces, the diplomats and officials stated.
As the meeting began, Israel continued its airstrikes on Thursday, hitting towns in southern Lebanon and areas of the Bekaa Valley.
Al-Akhbar reported that three Israeli raids targeted the Zaarin-Hermel highlands and the upper reaches of the western mountain range towards the town of Buday.
A further series of air raids targeted the heights of Mount al-Rayhan, as well as Birkat al-Jabour and the Litani River on the outskirts of the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah.
An Israeli drone also fired a missile at a Rapid vehicle on the road between the towns of Taybeh and Deir Siryan, injuring four people. The strike also damaged a pickup truck belonging to the Murad Electrical Services Company.
In response, Lebanese Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri said the strikes were “an Israeli message to the Paris conference dedicated to supporting the Lebanese army, and in parallel, a belt of fire of air raids in honor of the meeting of the mechanism tomorrow.”
On Wednesday, Ed Gabriel of the American Task Force on Lebanon claimed that the LAF was making progress in disarming Hezbollah.
“South of the Litani [River], they are making a lot of progress … They are now beginning to focus on their planning for the north,” Gabriel said following a trip to the region where he met US and Arab officials.
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