Disarmament of Hezbollah: The Lebanese army is determined to avoid confrontation with the Shiite organization, explains a journalist

At the time of the fragile ceasefire in Lebanon, put into effect on Thursday, April 16, the death toll from the war stands at over 2,100 (including an unknown number of Hezbollah fighters), with several dozen villages razed in the south of the country. “You have a country in pieces and an Israeli army that occupies the territory deeply, with a possibility to continue bombing at will based on what it considers a threat. So it’s a real freedom of action in Lebanon,” commented Anthony Samrani, editor-in-chief of the French-language Lebanese daily L’Orient-Le Jour, on Friday, April 17.

The journalist fears that the fighting may resume soon, questioning whether this respite is not only linked to “essentially American considerations,” namely, “a desire by Donald Trump to say: ‘I have taken charge of the Lebanese issue. I will also achieve a victory.'”

While Anthony Samrani considers this fragile agreement “very, very much to Israel’s advantage,” the American president faces a backlash from his camp in the United States for his unwavering support for Israel.

After imposing the ceasefire on Benjamin Netanyahu, who did not even have time to present this decision to the Security Council, Donald Trump announced that he would “invite” the Israeli Prime Minister and the Lebanese president Joseph Aoun to the White House very soon. “If it’s just for the photo, it will put the Lebanese side in total embarrassment,” reacted the journalist from Orient-Le Jour.

Lebanon must face an occupation of its territory by the Israeli army as long as the Hezbollah is not disarmed. “There is a technical question and a political question,” the journalist believes. “This operation would be, in any case, bloody, complicated, difficult, and lengthy, while the Israelis are very impatient. Additionally, there is a real political problem, meaning there is currently no unanimity in Lebanon in the political will to disarm. So you have a Prime Minister who is willing, who wants to do it, and you have a Lebanese army that, unfortunately, is not in this logic. You have a Lebanese army that absolutely wants to avoid confrontation.”

In the broader negotiation between Iranians, Americans, and Israel, Lebanon was invited to direct negotiations to obtain this ceasefire. “It’s rather good news,” commented Anthony Samrani. “Moreover, there is clearly a will from Israel to separate the Iranian front from the Lebanese front and an American desire to achieve a diplomatic victory in Lebanon. While in Iran, at least from what we have seen in the past few hours, the negotiations are not going in the right direction. Lebanon remains tied to a regional issue that exceeds it.”