From the Liveblog of
Monday, February 16, 2026
Visiting Beirut, German president urges Lebanon to keep up disarmament of Hezbollah
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Visiting German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier urges Beirut to keep disarming terror group Hezbollah, saying it will help ensure the withdrawal of the IDF from Lebanese territory.
Lebanon’s government has committed to disarming Hezbollah, and the army last month said it had completed the first phase of the plan, covering the area between the Litani River and the Israeli border.
Steinmeier says his visit is about “the demand that both sides fulfill their obligations under the November 2024 ceasefire agreement and that the disarmament of Hezbollah here in Lebanon continues, thereby creating the conditions for the Israeli army to withdraw from southern Lebanon.”
“Both sides are obliged to fulfill the ceasefire agreement — I say this in Israel as well as in Lebanon,” he tells a press conference with his Lebanese counterpart Joseph Aoun, calling the deal “an opportunity.”
Aoun says Lebanon has asked Germany to “demand the Israeli side implement the ceasefire agreement and withdraw from the territories it occupies.”
He also asked Germany to assist the Lebanese army and to play a “key role” after the departure of United Nations peacekeepers, whose mandate expires this year.
The Times of Israel Community.