Western, Arab diplomats tour Israel-Lebanon border to observe Hezbollah disarmament efforts

Western and Arab diplomats tour an area along Lebanon’s border with Israel, where Lebanese troops and UN observers have been working for months to end the armed presence of the Hezbollah terror group.

The delegation, which includes ambassadors of the United States and Saudi Arabia, is accompanied by General Rodolph Haikal, commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, as well as top officers in the border region.

The Lebanese government has said that by the end of the year, the army should have cleared all the border area south of the Litani River from Hezbollah’s armed presence.

Hezbollah’s leader Naim Qassem has said that the Iran-backed group will end its military presence south of the Litani, but vowed again over the weekend that it will keep its weapons in other parts of Lebanon — which would go against a UN Security Council resolution from 2006.

Parts of the zone south of the Litani River and north of the border with Israel were formerly a Hezbollah stronghold, off limits to the Lebanese national army and UN observers deployed in the area.

During the tour, the diplomats and military attaches are taken to an army post that overlooks one of five hills inside Lebanon that were captured by Israeli troops last year.

“The main goal of the military is to guarantee stability,” an army statement quotes Haikal as telling the diplomats. Haikal adds that the tour aims to show that the Lebanese army is committed to the ceasefire agreement that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war last year.

There are no comments from the diplomats.