Group warns US-driven plans bow to interests of Israel, which continues to carry out near-daily violations of truce.
Lebanon’s cabinet has again met to discuss the disarmament of Hezbollah despite the latter’s earlier rejection of the demands, which have largely been driven by the United States.
As ministers gathered for more talks on Thursday, two days after they announced they were planning to restrict arms to six official forces by the end of the year, Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc accused the government of “slipping into accepting American demands” that would serve Israel’s interests.
Hezbollah ministers and Muslim Shia allies in the Lebanese cabinet withdrew from the cabinet meeting on Thursday in protest during discussions about the proposal to disarm Hezbollah, three Lebanese political sources told Reuters.
Beirut’s clampdown on Hezbollah comes after prodding from US envoy Tom Barrack, who presented the government with detailed proposals featuring a timetable for disarming the group, even as Israel continued to violate a November truce it signed with Lebanon to end more than a year of hostilities that culminated last year in two months of full-blown war.
