No fuel, no wheat and bombs all over if Lebanon keeps Hezbollah arms, report warns

The threats against Lebanon due to failing to hand over Hezbollah’s arms will not be limited to military action, Al-Arabiya’s Al-Hadath channel quoted unnamed diplomatic sources as saying Thursday.

“Lebanon risks being put on the (Financial Action Task Force’s) black list and facing economic pressure due to Hezbollah’s arms,” the sources said.

“Lebanon risks being prevented from importing fuel and wheat and facing restrictions on financial transfers due to Hezbollah’s arms,” the sources warned.

“All Lebanese areas, including Beirut, will face the threat of bombardment if Hezbollah refuses to hand over its arms,” the unnamed diplomatic sources cautioned.

Earlier in the day, President Joseph Aoun said that Lebanon is determined to disarm Hezbollah, a step it has come under heavy U.S. pressure to take, with the Iran-backed group insisting that doing so would serve Israeli goals.

In a key speech marking Army Day on Thursday, Aoun said Lebanon was demanding "the extension of the Lebanese state's authority over all its territory, the removal of weapons from all armed groups including Hezbollah and their handover to the Lebanese Army."

He added it was every politician's duty "to seize this historic opportunity and push without hesitation towards affirming the army and security forces' monopoly on weapons over all Lebanese territory... in order to regain the world's confidence."

On Wednesday, Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem had said that "anyone calling today for the surrender of weapons, whether internally or externally, on the Arab or the international stage, is serving the Israeli project."

He accused U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, who has visited Lebanon several times in recent months for talks with senior officials, of using "intimidation and threats" with the aim of "aiding Israel."

Lebanon has proposed modifications to "ideas" submitted by the United States on Hezbollah's disarmament, Aoun added, and a plan would be discussed at a cabinet meeting next week to "establish a timetable for implementation."

Aoun also demanded the withdrawal of Israeli troops, the release of Lebanese prisoners and "an immediate cessation of Israeli hostilities."