BEIRUT: Lebanon’s army has blown up so many Hezbollah arms caches that it has run out of explosives, as it races to meet a year-end deadline to disarm the Shiite militia in the south of the country under a ceasefire agreed with Israel, two sources told Reuters.
The explosives shortage, which has not been previously reported, has not stopped the army quickening the pace of inspection missions to search for hidden weapons in the south, near Israel, the two said, one of whom is a security source and the other a Lebanese official.
It would have been unimaginable for Lebanon’s military to embark on such a task at the zenith of Iran-backed Hezbollah’s power just a few years ago, and many observers were skeptical even after the ceasefire agreement.
But Hezbollah was hit hard by Israel’s war last year, which killed thousands of fighters and the upper echelons of both the military and political wings, including leader Hassan Nasrallah. The war also killed more than 1,100 women and children and destroyed swathes of Lebanon’s south and east.
Hezbollah was hit hard by Israel’s war last year, which killed thousands of fighters and the upper echelons of both the military and political wings, including leader Hassan Nasrallah. President Donald Trump’s deputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus is in Beirut this week to discuss momentum on disarmament with Lebanese officials.
