A ceasefire proposal agreed to by Lebanon and Israel stipulates that only "official military and security forces" in Lebanon are authorised to carry arms in the country, according to a copy of the deal dated on Tuesday and seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
A soldier stands guard next to a poster with the images of late Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and late senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, at the entrance of Beirut's southern suburbs, November 27, 2024. Reuters/Thaier Al-Sudani
A ceasefire proposal agreed to by Lebanon and Israel stipulates that only "official military and security forces" in Lebanon are authorised to carry arms in the country, according to a copy of the deal dated on Tuesday and seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
It specifically names those forces as the Lebanese Armed Forces, the Internal Security Forces, General Security, State Security, Lebanese customs and municipal police.
Officials in both the Lebanese government and Iran-backed Hezbollah have long referred to cabinet statements since 2008 enshrining the right to "resistance" as providing official approval for Hezbollah's arsenal.
The truce proposal refers to both sides' commitment to fully implementing United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, including provisions that refer to the "disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon".
Hezbollah has not formally commented on the ceasefire but senior official Hassan Fadlallah told Lebanon's Al Jadeed TV late on Tuesday that while the group supported the extension of the Lebanese state's authority, the group would emerge from the war stronger.
"Thousands will join the resistance... Disarming the resistance was an Israeli proposal that fell through," said Fadlallah, who is also a member of Lebanon's parliament.
Reporting by Laila Bassam and Maya Gebeily
Israel killed a commander of the Palestinian militant group Hamas in an airstrike on southern Lebanon on Friday, further testing a ceasefire that halted last year's war between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah group.
Israel stepped up airstrikes on Syria overnight, declaring the attacks a warning to the new Islamist rulers in Damascus as it accused their Turkish allies on Thursday of trying to turn the country into a Turkish protectorate.
The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates has issued a forceful condemnation following a wave of Israeli airstrikes across the country, denouncing the attacks as a flagrant violation of international law and Syrian sovereignty.
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