BEIRUT (Reuters) -Lebanon will come up with a plan on August 31 to convince Hezbollah to disarm, U.S. Special Envoy for Syria and Lebanon Thomas Barrack said on Tuesday.
Israel will give a counterproposal when it receives Lebanon’s plan, Barrack said after meeting with the Lebanese president in Beirut.
Barrack said the plan Lebanon was preparing would not necessarily involve military action to persuade Hezbollah to give up its weapons.
“The Lebanese army and the government are not talking about going to war. They are talking about how to convince Hezbollah to give up those arms,” he said.
Last week, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem warned the Lebanese government against confronting the Iran-backed group, stating that there would be “no life” in Lebanon if it did.
Hezbollah was severely weakened by a war with Israel last year in which many of the group’s leaders and fighters were killed. A U.S.-brokered peace agreement that ended that conflict requires the Lebanese state to disarm armed groups.
Qassem said Hezbollah and its ally Amal had postponed street protests against the U.S.-backed disarmament initiative, allowing room for dialogue with the government, but that future protests could target the U.S. Embassy in Beirut.
Israel signaled it would reduce its military presence in southern Lebanon if the Lebanese Armed Forces acted to disarm Hezbollah, according to a statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office.
(Reporting by Jana Choukeir and Nayera AbdallahWriting by Tala RamadanEditing by Peter Graff)
