Hundreds of supporters protest government decision to disarm Hezbollah

W460

Hundreds of Hezbollah supporters took to the streets of Beirut's southern suburbs to protest a government decision to disarm the group.

Lebanese media shared footage of similar rallies late Thursday, in other areas of the country where Hezbollah holds sway, while troops deployed to maintain order.

The cabinet met on Thursday for the second time in days to discuss disarming Hezbollah.

The meeting considered a U.S. proposal that includes a timetable for Hezbollah's disarmament, with Washington pressing Beirut to take action.

Information Minister Paul Morcos said the cabinet endorsed the introduction of the U.S. text without discussing specific timelines. The introduction lists 11 "objectives" including "ensuring the sustainability" of a November ceasefire with Israel, and "the gradual end of the armed presence of all non-governmental entities, including Hezbollah, in all Lebanese territory".

It also calls for the the deployment of Lebanese troops in border areas and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the five places in the south they have occupied since last year's war with Hezbollah.

The November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah stipulated that weapons in Lebanon be restricted to six military and security agencies.

The government said on Tuesday that disarmament should happen by the end of this year.

Following the cabinet decision on Tuesday, Morcos said the Lebanese government was waiting to review an "executive plan" on Hezbollah's disarmament.

The army was tasked with presenting a plan to restrict the possession of weapons to government forces by the end of August.

Only then would the government review the full provisions of the U.S. proposal, whose implementation "is dependent on the approval of each of the concerned countries", the information minister said.

Four Shiite Muslim ministers, including three directly affiliated with Hezbollah or its ally the Amal movement, walked out of Thursday's meeting in protest at the government's disarmament push.

Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc called on the government on Thursday to "correct the situation it has put itself and Lebanon in by slipping into accepting American demands that inevitably serve the interests of the Zionist enemy".

The group said on Wednesday that it would treat the government's decision to disarm it "as if it did not exist", accusing the cabinet of committing a "grave sin".

Israel -- which routinely carries out air strikes in Lebanon despite the November ceasefire -- has already signaled it could launch military operations if Beirut failed to disarm the group.

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