US envoy says Hezbollah must be disarmed 'as soon as possible'

US envoy Morgan Ortagus said in an interview broadcast yesterday that Hezbollah should be disarmed “as soon as possible” and that Lebanese troops were expected to do the job, Reuters reported.

Ortagus spoke to Lebanese broadcaster LBCI at the end of a three-day visit to Beirut, where she met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri and other officials and political representatives.

Her visit followed several weeks of intensifying Israeli air strikes on Lebanon in which a number of civilians have been killed, including two strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs.

“It’s clear that Hezbollah has to be disarmed and it’s clear that Israel is not going to accept terrorists shooting at them, into their country, and that’s a position we understand,” Ortagus said.

“We continue to press on this government to fully fulfill the cessation of hostilities and that includes disarming Hezbollah and all militias,” she said.

Asked whether the US had set a timeline for the disarmament to take place, Ortagus said, “As soon as possible.”

“There’s not necessarily a timetable so to speak, but we know that the sooner that the LAF [Lebanese Armed Forces] is able to meet these goals and disarm all militias in the state, the sooner the Lebanese people can be free,” she said.

The ceasefire agreement calls for Lebanese troops to dismantle armed groups’ military positions and confiscate unauthorised arms “starting with” south Lebanon.

Hezbollah has long rejected attempts to disarm it. It says the ceasefire applies exclusively to southern Lebanon, and not the entire country, and points to Israel’s air strikes and continued occupation of five hilltop positions in southern Lebanon as major breaches of the truce.

Lebanon: Civilian killed in Israel drone strike despite ceasefire