Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun on Wednesday called on the United States to pressure Israel to leave the issue of Hezbollah's disarmament to Beirut, saying that it can only be achieved through negotiations as part of a national defense strategy and not through force.
The Lebanese government has decided that “weapons will only be in the hands of the state,” but there are “discussions around how to implement this decision,” Aoun said during a visit to Qatar.
He said the Iran-backed terror group had no intention of being dragged into a new war and declared that its operatives would not be absorbed into the Lebanese armed forces as an independent unit. "They can join the army and go through training, as was the case after the Lebanese civil war," he said.
"The Americans know that it is impossible at the moment to achieve normalized relations with Israel," Aoun said, adding that the continued deployment of IDF forces to five strategic points in South Lebanon helps Hezbollah and he said as much to the American deputy envoy Morgan Ortagus during her visit.
"I told her that we want to remove Hezbollah’s weapons, but we will not ignite a civil war in Lebanon," he said. "Hezbollah has shown self-restraint and a level of responsibility by not responding to Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement."
Aoun said the Lebanese army was carrying out its duties without any resistance from Hezbollah north or south of the Litani River and the eastern Beqaa Valley. "We decided to draft into the military 4,500 soldiers that would be deployed to the south, and that number will grow to 10,000."
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The Lebanese president said that the fall of the Assad regime in Syria and the developments in Iran's weakening position toward the Houthi rebels in Yemen and the Shi'ite militias in Iraq all help the dialogue with Hezbollah. "France's President Emmanuel Macron offered to assist Lebanon and Syria protect their land borders," he said.
Aoun said he thanked Qatar for its assistance but requested further support for the Lebanese armed forces and investments in the electricity and oil sectors. He said he would like to visit the United States, but his current preference is to meet Arab leaders in the region who are close and willing to help Lebanon.