Israel wants the Lebanese army to use its tactics to disarm Hezbollah. Otherwise, Israel is threatening to do the job itself. According to a Reuters report posted on Nov. 10, Israel is trying to push the Lebanese army into searching private homes for weapons as it proceeds with its effort to disarm Hezbollah south of the Litani River. Lebanese security officials told Reuters that the Israeli demand has emerged in recent weeks and been rejected by Lebanon’s military leadership, who fear it would ignite civil strife and derail a disarmament strategy seen by the army as cautious but effective.
The army is confident it can declare Lebanon’s south free of Hezbollah arms by the end of 2025. A sweep of valleys and forests has located more than 50 tunnels and resulted in the confiscation of over 50 guided missiles and hundreds of other weapons, according to two Lebanese civilian sources briefed on army operations. But the army’s plan never included searching private property, according to the Lebanese security officials. Israel doubts it will succeed without such measures.
“They’re demanding that we do house-to-house searches, and we won’t do that ... we aren’t going to do things their way,” one of the officials said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office did not respond to a request for comment. Netanyahu said on Nov. 2: “We expect the Lebanese government to do what it committed to do, namely to disarm Hezbollah, but it is clear that we will exercise our right to self-defense as stipulated in the ceasefire conditions. We will not allow Lebanon to become a renewed front against us and will act as needed.”
Israel’s actions on Nov. 10 included killing three people in strikes on their cars; blowing up a number of private homes in the south; and strikes in other locations in Lebanon, including in the Bekaa Valley. The IDF claimed that the people killed were all Hezbollah operatives and that the targets attacked were launching or production locations for Hezbollah rockets.
