US asks Israel to reduce Lebanon strikes amid govt push to disarm Hezbollah

The US has asked Israel to cut down on its airstrikes in Lebanon in order to facilitate government efforts to disarm Hezbollah.

It comes as Lebanon seeks reciprocal steps from Israel after an unprecedented government decision to monopolise all arms in the country, including Hezbollah’s.

According to US news site Axios, the Trump administration’s plan calls for a temporary pause on what it called "non-urgent" strikes that could be extended if the Lebanese army takes further action to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding itself in southern Lebanon.

Since a 27 November 2024 ceasefire deal ended Israel's war on Lebanon, the Israeli military has continued to attack parts of Lebanon, claiming that this was to target Hezbollah officials and military sites.

The US-brokered ceasefire stipulates that Hezbollah must give up its weapons, that the Lebanese state should exercise full sovereignty over the country, and that Israel must pull its forces out of south Lebanon.

But Israeli troops continue to occupy five border sites deemed strategic, and Tel Aviv says it will not withdraw before Hezbollah’s armed wing is dismantled.

Hezbollah was the only group to keep its weapons following the 1975-1990 civil war, in order to fight against an Israeli occupation of south Lebanon that ended in 2000.

The Lebanese government decision in early August seeks to disarm Hezbollah and all militant groups in Lebanon by year-end, and the cabinet has tasked the Lebanese army with formulating a plan on how this will be implemented.

Hezbollah – which came out severely weakened from last year’s war – has so far refused to disarm. Israel claims to have destroyed much of the group’s arsenal, but it is believed it still possess ballistic missiles, precision-guided rockets, and drones.

The Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers have reportedly already dismantled most of the group’s military sites south of the Litani River, close to the Israeli border and the UNIFIL’s area of operations.

Lebanese leaders have continuously called on the US to pressure Israel to withdraw from the five hilltops it occupies in south Lebanon as a reciprocal measure, and release Lebanese war prisoners.

US envoy Tom Barrack who was in Lebanon days ago has proposed a step-by-step withdrawal from the five outposts in response to practical steps from the Lebanese government to continue disarming Hezbollah, sources told Axios.

During his recent visit to Beirut, Barrack called on Israel to comply with the ceasefire deal.

Reconstruction

As well as reducing military action, sources told Axios that the US plan also envisions a "Trump economic zone" in parts of south Lebanon adjacent to the Israeli frontier.

Gulf states Saudi Arabia and Qatar have already agreed to invest in the reconstruction of these southern areas when Israel’s military withdrawal is complete, the report said.

"The idea is that the economic zone will make it much harder for Hezbollah to re-establish a military presence close to the Israeli border, and therefore Israel's security concerns will be addressed without an occupation," reported Axios.

Hezbollah officials have blamed the cash-strapped Lebanese government for its sluggish efforts to begin rebuilding war-damaged areas.

Lebanese Finance Minister Yassine Jaber revealed last week that it will disburse an initial payment of 200 billion Lebanese pounds (around $2.24 million under the current rate) to the Higher Relief Committee to begin repairing damages in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

 Jaber also authorised the signing of a $250 million loan agreement with the World Bank, earmarked for the reconstruction of infrastructure in areas targeted in the Israeli attacks.

The fighting began on 8 October 2023 when Hezbollah announced a "support front" after the war in Gaza began.

Israel dramatically escalated the conflict into a full-scale war in September 2024, destroying swathes of southern Lebanon, the eastern Beqaa region and Beirut’s southern suburbs.

While the Lebanese government says around 4,000 people were killed, other estimates put the number closer to 6,000.

Most of Hezbollah's senior leadership was eliminated, and the group faced another major loss when its supply route from Iran via Syria was cut off after ally Bashar al-Assad’s regime was ousted in December.