Lebanese authorities detain people they say were planning rockets attacks on Israel

Lebanese authorities have detained several people who they say were planning to launch rockets into Israel and confiscated the weapons they were intending to use, the military said Sunday.

The army said in a statement that the arrests are linked to other detentions announced earlier this week. It added that as military intelligence was investigating that case they got information that a new rocket attack was being planned.

The army said troops raided an apartment near the southern port city of Sidon and confiscated some of the rockets and the launchers and "detained several people who were involved in the operation." It said the detainees were referred to judicial authorities.

On Wednesday, the army said in a statement that authorities detained several people, including a number of Palestinians, who were involved in firing rockets in two separate attacks toward Israel in late March that triggered intense Israeli airstrikes on parts of Lebanon, including the southern Beirut suburbs for the first time since the November ceasefire deal.

The Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group denied at the time that it was behind the firing of rockets.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Sunday that disarming Hezbollah was a "delicate" matter whose implementation required the right circumstances, warning that forcing the issue could lead the country to ruin.

Restricting the bearing of arms to the state is "a sensitive, delicate issue that is fundamental to preserving civil peace" and requires due "consideration and responsibility," Aoun told reporters after meeting with the Maronite patriarch for Easter.

"We will implement" a state monopoly on bearing arms "but we have to wait for the circumstances" to allow this, he said, adding that "nobody is speaking to me about timing or pressure".

"Any controversial domestic issue in Lebanon can only be approached through conciliatory, non-confrontational dialogue and communication. If not, we will lead Lebanon to ruin," he added.

US deputy special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus this month said disarming Hezbollah should happen "as soon as possible".

Under the ceasefire agreement, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters north of Lebanon's Litani River and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.

Israel was to completely withdraw all its forces, but instead it has maintained troops in five strategic hilltops along the border.

Lebanon's army has been deploying as Israeli troops have withdrawn and has also been dismantling any Hezbollah military infrastructure.