Under mounting US pressure, senior Lebanese officials have begun deliberations aimed at expediting a plan to disarm the Hezbollah terrorist organization, according to the Lebanese daily Nidaa al-Watan.
The newspaper reported Sunday that Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri held talks in the past 24 hours with Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun. The discussions centered on Lebanon's response to a proposal from US envoy Amos Hochstein, though a final version of the response has yet to be formulated. The draft is being shaped in consultations between Berri, Mikati and President Michel Aoun.
According to Nidaa al-Watan, the US is simultaneously urging Israel to withdraw from five points in southern Lebanon where the Israel Defense Forces have maintained control since the recent ceasefire.
As part of the emerging framework, the Lebanese army is expected to take possession of weapons stockpiled by Hezbollah in areas north of the Litani River. Lebanese sources described the arrangement as a "step-by-step" process: for each Israeli withdrawal from a specified position, Hezbollah would hand over arms from a designated zone. The second phase of the plan reportedly includes a prisoner exchange, and the third involves demarcating the land border between the two countries.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem reiterated the group's rejection of any disarmament. In a speech marking the Shiite holiday of Ashoura, Qassem said the terrorist organization "will not compromise on its weapons, will not be extorted and is not afraid of confrontation."
Separately, Saudi-owned Al-Hadath TV cited sources saying the US administration has set a one-week deadline to begin implementing the disarmament plan, though concrete results are expected to take up to six months.
If Lebanon fails to centralize control of weapons under state authority, the Saudi channel reported, the UN-brokered ceasefire oversight committee in the north would lose its mandate—along with the presence of UN peacekeeping forces (UNIFIL).
