Western and Arab diplomats tour Lebanon-Israel border to observe Hezbollah disarmament efforts

BEIRUT (AP) — Western and Arab diplomats toured an area along Lebanon’s border with Israel Monday where Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers have been working for months to end the armed presence of the militant Hezbollah group.

The delegation that included the ambassadors of the United States and Saudi Arabia was accompanied by Gen. Rodolph Haikal, commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, as well as top officers in the border region.

The Lebanese government has said that by the end of the year, the army should have cleared all the border area south of the Litani river from Hezbollah’s armed presence.

Hezbollah’s leader Naim Kassem had said that the group will end its military presence south of the Litani river but vowed again over the weekend that they will keep their weapons in other parts of Lebanon.

Parts of the zone south of the Litani River and north of the border with Israel were formerly a Hezbollah stronghold, off limits to the Lebanese national army and U.N. peacekeepers deployed in the area.

During the tour, the diplomats and military attaches were taken to an army post that overlooks one of five hills inside Lebanon that were captured by Israeli troops last year.

“The main goal of the military is to guarantee stability,” an army statement quoted Haikal as telling the diplomats. Haikal added that the tour aims to show that the Lebanese army is committed to the ceasefire agreement that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war last year.

There were no comments from the diplomats.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began Oct. 8, 2023, a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel, after Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas. Israel launched a widespread bombardment of Lebanon in September last year that severely weakened Hezbollah, followed by a ground invasion.

The war ended in November 2024 with a ceasefire brokered by the U.S.

Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes since then, mainly targeting Hezbollah members but also killing 127 civilians, according to the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

On Sunday, the Israeli military said it killed three Hezbollah members in strikes on southern Lebanon.

Over the past weeks, the U.S. has increased pressure on Lebanon to work harder on disarming Hezbollah and canceled a planned trip to Washington last month by Haikal.

U.S. officials were angered in November by a Lebanese army statement that blamed Israel for destabilizing Lebanon and blocking the Lebanese military deployment in south Lebanon.

A senior Lebanese army official told The Associated Press Monday that Haikal will fly to France this week where he will attend a meeting with U.S., French and Saudi officials to discuss ways of assisting the army in its mission. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.

The Lebanese army has been severely affected by the economic meltdown that broke out in Lebanon in October 2019.