Egypt, Qatar refuse ‘dangerous’ US plan to oust Hezbollah in Lebanon

The United States is reportedly proposing a push for elections in Lebanon in a bid to politically oust Hezbollah amid Israel’s weakening of the group’s leadership in recent weeks, but some Arab states see such a plan as “unrealistic and even dangerous”.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, which cited American and Arab officials, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken to the leaders of Qatar, Egypt and Saudi Arabia in an effort to rally support for a proposed plan that would see a new presidential election in Lebanon.

In what Washington reportedly sees as an opportunity to finally reach a political resolution in Beirut after years of deadlock, the proposal reportedly aims to take advantage of Israel’s recent weakening of Hezbollah by ousting it in new elections.

The report aligns with the statement by US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller at a press conference earlier this week, in which he said that the government aims to see Lebanon “break the stranglehold that Hezbollah has had on the country and remove Hezbollah veto over a president.”

The plan would apparently require support from Arab states, however, and while Saudi Arabian officials who are familiar with the proposal have expressed the kingdom’s support for the American initiative, others have not. Egypt and Qatar have reportedly refused to lend their support, viewing the plan as “unrealistic and even dangerous” due to their officials’ view that Israel will not succeed in destroying Hezbollah, and that any political resolution will be too fragile and unstable without the involvement of the group.

Cairo in particular also reportedly expressed its concern that any international interference in Lebanese politics at such a scale would have the potential to ignite internal divisions and tensions remaining from Lebanon’s civil war over three decades ago.

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