Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun said over the weekend that his army will protect all Lebanese. Beirut is also saying it is launching a peace initiative in southern Lebanon, where the army will take control of positions on the border and be responsible for border security.
It is not clear how this will happen because Israel continues to control several points in Lebanon and has increased its strikes on Hezbollah. Based on Aoun, Lebanon is still seeking a monopoly on weapons, but it is unclear how it will collect these arms.
The problem for Lebanon is that its leaders are better at making speeches and statements than actually collecting the weaponry.
Weapons remain with Hamas despite the Palestinians being disarmed in Lebanon
For instance, Lebanon had actually collected arms from some Palestinian factions in the Ain al-Hilweh camp, but apparently, the weapons remained with the Hamas members. This is just one example of a small camp where the government could not achieve this goal.
With this in mind, how does it intend to collect weapons from Hezbollah?
Arab News said that “Aoun on Friday reaffirmed that responsibility for the protection of southern Lebanon rests solely with the Lebanese army.”
However, this report was short on details. Aoun was visiting barracks in Tyre in southern Lebanon. Tyre is where Lebanon’s military headquarters for the southern Litani sector along the border with Israel are located, according to Arab News.
Meanwhile, it appears the Trump administration is nonplussed. It canceled meetings with Lebanese army commander Brig.-Gen. Rodolphe Haykal. Aoun met with Haykal over the weekend during the trip to Tyre.
Lebanon’s president discussed various issues with the army, including the Mechanism Committee that monitors the truce with Israel.
Aoun wants a permanent solution in southern Lebanon. He said the state is ready to present a timetable for the army to take control of border positions.
However, so far, it is unclear when this will happen and whether Israel will reduce strikes and see if the military will actually collect the arms. Lebanon keeps saying it is ready and willing for regional states to play a role. Yet, it never seems to actually “ensure all weapons outside state control are permanently neutralized,” despite Aoun’s claims.