Lebanon’s social affairs minister has backed calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah, but cautioned the process would take time before a “political settlement” could be reached, noting that the group is also a “community”.
Haneen Sayed told a discussion in Washington on Monday that disarming Hezbollah – an Iran-backed militant group – was a demand of her government and its people, and that it “must happen”.
“Of course, we understand that implementation is not easy. It’s not instant coffee. It takes time, and it, of course, is going to require a political settlement [or] an agreement and negotiation for that to happen,” she told the discussion hosted by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
“It’s not an overnight thing, but at least what we want to get to is that there be an agreement, and then the implementation is the second stage.”
Sayed’s comments follow last week’s three-week extension of the Lebanon-Israel ceasefire, a period already marred by reported violations. Her remarks also signalled an awareness that the Lebanese government has to deal with Hezbollah to achieve long-term peace in the country.
US President Donald Trump earlier said that the truce – a result of rare direct talks between Lebanese and Israeli officials – would include Hezbollah, with Israel’s envoy to the US, Yechiel Leiter, saying the two countries stood united in liberating Lebanon from the group.
