A senior political adviser to Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Thursday there is broad agreement in Lebanon on the need to disarm Hezbollah, while urging Washington to press Israel to fully withdraw from Lebanese territory.
“Everyone agrees on the necessity to address Hezbollah’s weapons,” Jean Aziz, a political adviser to Aoun, said.
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Speaking at Chatham House in London, Aziz described Hezbollah’s disarmament as a three-stage process known as “DDR.” Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration is a framework commonly used in political science terms to best transform non-state armed groups, which Aziz said Hezbollah was, into civilian or political actors.
Aziz said Hezbollah was not a “set of mercenaries” from outside Lebanon. “They are Lebanese people whom the IRGC has invested tens of millions of dollars in for 40 years in technology, indoctrination, education, schools, hospitals, and building an entire society for the [Shia] sect,” Aziz said.
