US threatens Lebanon with 'new Israeli war' if Hezbollah stays armed: Report
Iran Press TV
Friday, 05 September 2025 3:29 PM
US pressure is growing on Lebanon after the administration of President Donald Trump issued a warning to Beirut regarding the potential for a renewed Israeli military campaign should the Lebanese government fail to promptly disarm the Hezbollah resistance movement.
According to US officials cited by the New York Times, the primary risk associated with any delay or obstruction in the disarmament process is that Israel may determine it necessary to "finish the job" through further military operations.
"Lebanon's leaders are running out of time to disarm Hezbollah before they risk losing US financial support, and even a renewed Israeli military campaign," officials cited by the NYT said.
"Inaction or half measures could lead Congress to cut off America's roughly $150 million in annual funding for the Lebanese Armed Forces," one official said.
In August, under heavy pressure from the US and Israel, Lebanon's government ordered the army to draw up a plan for disarming Hezbollah by the end of the year.
Hezbollah and its political ally Amal back then announced that they would "treat the decision as if it did not exist" and accused the government of serving US diktats.
US officials are now worried that "Lebanon's parliamentary government will flinch from a potential confrontation with Hezbollah," the NYT report said.
The Lebanese government is set to discuss on Friday an army plan to disarm Hezbollah, which Hezbollah says to the hands of Israel and the United States.
Hezbollah reiterated its opposition to the move on Wednesday, with its parliamentary bloc calling on Lebanese authorities to "reverse their... unpatriotic decision".
David Wood, a senior Lebanon analyst at the International Crisis Group, said should the cabinet approve the plan, Hezbollah could consider other options like "imposing pressure on the Shia ministers to resign from the government" or "trying to organize mass protests".
During the session, the army is likely to make clear the obstacles standing in the way of disarming Hezbollah by force. It reportedly will also not commit to any specific date by which the implementation should be complete.
Lebanese army chief Rudolphe Haikal has reportedly threatened to resign if the country's troops are ordered to "spill Lebanese blood" by attempting to disarm the resistance movement by force.
Al Akhbar, a Lebanese newspaper, said that Hezbollah and Amal ministers might refuse to discuss the army's plan on Friday.
In an attempt to ease tensions, the speaker of parliament and head of the Amal movement, Nabih Berri, has called for discussions to be "a calm and consensual dialogue."
The report comes as the Israeli regime has intensified its aerial assaults on southern Lebanon in recent weeks despite an existing ceasefire.
The attacks come amid ongoing violations across various parts of Lebanon, despite the ceasefire announced on November 27, 2024.
Israeli troops have also expanded their new occupation along the border in southern Lebanon, which they established during the ceasefire after failing in ground operations against Hezbollah.
Hezbollah, itself, has, meanwhile, vowed not to lay down its arms, cautioning that the Israeli regime's managing to implement the disarmament scheme via the US would be followed by Tel Aviv's seeking to further expand its occupation.
Secretary-general of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, in recent remarks, accused Lebanon's government of handing the country to Israel by pushing for its disarmament.
Qassem also said Hezbollah and Amal had postponed a previous call for protest to allow room for discussion and "to make adjustments before we reach a confrontation that no one wants".
However, he added, "if it is imposed on us, we will face it".
Qassem, in an earlier speech, pointed to Washington's excessive interference in Lebanon's domestic affairs, arguing it is the party chiefly pushing for the disarmament of Hezbollah, irrespective of the fact that the resistance movement is protecting Lebanon's soil, security, and sovereignty with its arms.
The Hezbollah chief then invited Lebanese officials to stop making mistakes, reminding them that the role of his resistance group is now more significant than ever.
Since its inception in 1982, the movement has fended off countless incursions into the country by the Israeli regime, which has been occupying Shebaa Farms, a strip of land along Lebanon's border with the occupied Palestinian territories, since 1967.
The defensive push has included the group's forcing the Israeli military to retreat during two full-scale wars against the nation in 2000 and 2006.
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