Intensifying efforts for a truce in Lebanon have brought into focus the role of the country’s army, which would be expected to keep the south free of Hezbollah weapons but is neither willing nor able to confront the Iran-backed group, seven sources said.

Hezbollah, though weakened by Israel’s year-long offensive, has long been stronger militarily than the Lebanese Armed Forces, which have stayed on the sidelines of the conflict even after Israel sent ground forces into south Lebanon on Oct. 1.

While the army will likely be required to deploy thousands of troops to the south after any ceasefire deal, it will need Hezbollah’s nod to do so and will avoid confrontations that could trigger internal strife, said the sources – three people close to the army and four diplomats, including from donor countries.

“The Lebanese army is in a situation that is sensitive and difficult. It cannot practice normal missions like the armies of other countries because there is another military force in the country,” said retired Lebanese brigadier general Hassan Jouni, referring to Hezbollah, which enjoys a semi-formal military status as a resistance force.

This week, both the Lebanese government and Hezbollah agreed to a US truce proposal, a senior Lebanese official told Reuters, while cautioning Lebanon still had “comments” on the draft. Hezbollah’s approval is needed for any ceasefire to take effect, given its arsenal and sway over the Lebanese state.

A second official said exactly how the army would be deployed to the south was still under discussion.

The United States is keen to see the army confront Hezbollah more directly and shared that view with Lebanese officials, said two Western diplomats and one of the sources close to the army.

But Hezbollah’s military strength, its shares of Lebanon’s cabinet and parliament, and the proportion of army troops who are Shi’ite Muslim, means such a move would risk internal conflict, they said.

Scenes of the army “storming into houses looking for Hezbollah weapons” would lead to a civil war, one of the diplomats said, arguing that the army could instead work alongside UN peacekeeping troops to patrol the south without confronting Hezbollah directly.

Neither the army, Hezbollah or Israel’s military responded to questions for this story.

Last week, Hezbollah spokesman Mohammad Afif told reporters at a press conference that Hezbollah’s relationship with the army remained “strong.”

“You will not be able to sever the connection between the army and the resistance (Hezbollah),” he said, addressing those he said were trying to nudge the army to take on the group. Afif was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut on Sunday.

The White House declined to comment for this story. Asked by Reuters about the role of Lebanon’s military, the US State Department said it could not comment on “ongoing, private negotiations”.

Lebanese, Israeli and US officials all agree that the cornerstone of a long-lasting truce lies in better implementing United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the last round of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006.

Resolution 1701 says southern Lebanon should be free of weapons that do not belong to the state, and foresees as many as 15,000 Lebanese troops deployed to the south. It was never fully implemented by either side and Hezbollah was able to arm itself and build up fortifications in the south after 2006.

UNUSED WATCHTOWERS

For months, watchtowers donated by Britain for the army to install in the south have gathered dust in a warehouse near Beirut, awaiting a truce, while diplomats negotiate how they could be erected in a way that would antagonize neither Israel nor Hezbollah, two diplomats and a source familiar with the situation said.

The plight of the watchtowers highlights some of the challenges the army will face with any deployment to the southern border.

The army has long avoided fighting Hezbollah, standing aside when the Shi’ite group and its allies took over Beirut in 2008.

Lebanese troops have also been careful not to clash with Israel, withdrawing from the border as Israeli forces prepared to invade in October. The army has held fire even when Israel has struck them directly, killing 36 Lebanese soldiers so far.

The army’s reliance on foreign funding, especially hundreds of millions of dollars from Washington, further complicates its predicament.

Last year, Washington began disbursing cash to fortify troop salaries slashed by Lebanon’s financial crisis after army canteens stopped serving meat and the military resorted to offering sightseeing tours in its helicopters to raise cash.

Two of the sources familiar with the army’s thinking said the risk of losing U.S. support was a major concern for army chief Joseph Aoun, as was keeping the army unified to deploy once a truce is reached.

“Their priority now is to remain intact for the day after,” one of them said.

In response to questions about the army’s role in Lebanon, Karoline Leavitt, spokeswoman for the transition team of US President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office in January, said he would act to restore “peace through strength around the world” when he returns to the White House.

Trump has nominated staunchly pro-Israel figures to influential diplomatic posts, including real estate developer Steve Witkoff as his Middle East envoy. Witkoff did not reply to questions.

One of the sources close to the army said it had no choice but to wait until the conflict ends to assess the state of Hezbollah’s military strength before its own role becomes clear.

Founded in 1945, the army’s troops are split almost evenly between Sunni Muslims, Shi’ite Muslims and Christians, making it a longstanding symbol of national unity.

Consisting of approximately 40,000 active personnel, the army sees itself primarily as the guarantor of civil peace, a Lebanese security source and the two sources familiar with the army’s thinking said, particularly as tensions rise with hundreds of thousands of displaced Shi’ites seeking refuge in primarily Christian, Sunni and Druze areas in the current war.

It has also fought hardline Sunni groups – in Palestinian camps in 2007 and along Lebanon’s border with Syria in 2017.

The army fractured along sectarian lines in 1976, in the early years of Lebanon’s 15-year civil war, catalyzing Lebanon’s descent into militia rule, which ended in 1990 with armed groups relinquishing their weapons – except Hezbollah.

AID DELAYED

Some international aid to the army has already been held up, three more diplomats said.

World powers pledged $200 million to the force in Paris last month on the expectation that it would go towards recruiting new troops, but differences have emerged.

US officials have sought to withhold funds until a ceasefire is agreed to pressure Lebanon to make concessions, while Lebanon says it needs to recruit first to be able to implement a ceasefire, a European diplomat, a senior diplomat and a UN source told Reuters.

A US official disputed that Washington was using aid as leverage. The State Department said Washington was committed to supporting the Lebanese state and its sovereign institutions. The White House declined to comment.

However, there is precedent. US lawmakers in 2010 briefly blocked funding for Lebanon’s military after a deadly border clash between Lebanon and Israel. In late September, a Republican US lawmaker introduced a bill aiming to halt all financial aid, including for salaries, to the army until the Lebanese state barred Hezbollah as a political party.

Since 2008, ministerial statements have given Hezbollah legitimacy as an armed entity in the country alongside the military, without clearly detailing limits on its role.

“The situation needs internal political understandings to determine the role of Hezbollah in the security and military sphere in Lebanon,” said Jouni, the retired brigadier general. 

Hong Kong democrat Jimmy Lai on Wednesday testified for the first time in his landmark national security trial, saying he had never tried to influence the foreign policy of other countries, such as the US, towards China and Hong Kong.

Lai, a British and Hong Kong citizen and a founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, is considered one of the most high profile political arrestees in Hong Kong under a sweeping China-imposed national security law.

His testimony comes just a day after Hong Kong jailed 45 pro-democracy activists for up to 10 years in a separate national security case.

Lai has pleaded not guilty to two charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and a charge of conspiracy to publish seditious material.

During his trial that began earlier this year, it was alleged that Lai and others had requested a foreign country or organisation – especially the US – “to impose sanctions or blockade, or engage in other hostile activities” against the Hong Kong and Chinese governments.

One example of Lai’s alleged collusion were meetings in July 2019 with then US vice president Mike Pence and secretary of state Mike Pompeo to discuss the political crisis in Hong Kong as mass pro-democracy and anti-China protests intensified.

Under oath in court on Wednesday, Lai denied asking anything specific of Pence.

“I would not dare to ask the vice president to do anything. I would just relay to him what happened in Hong Kong when he asked me,” Lai told the court.

Lai said he had asked Pompeo: “Not to do something but to say something. To voice out its support for Hong Kong.”

On Taiwan, Lai said he had sought to connect former US deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz and retired US general Jack Keane to an interlocutor for former Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen.

“Tsai and myself are friends, so we always talk about US policy,” he told the court, explaining he had sought to connect both sides to create an unofficial channel between then US President Donald Trump and the Tsai administration to bolster mutual understanding.

Lai also told the West Kowloon Magistrates Court how his own guiding principles were aligned through his newspaper and with the people of Hong Kong, namely a belief in the rule of law and freedoms including of speech, religion and assembly.

“We were always in support of movements for freedom,” Lai, wearing a grey blazer and glasses, told the packed courtroom. He added he was against Hong Kong and Taiwan independence.

Around 100 people queued in the pouring rain huddled beneath umbrellas to secure a place in the court, with hundreds of police deployed around the vicinity.

“Apple Daily was the voice of many Hong Kongers,” said William Wong, 64, a retiree. “It’s my political expression to let him (Lai) know I support him. He’s done a lot for Hong Kong.”

Six others had earlier pleaded guilty, including senior staffers of Apple Daily and its parent company Next Digital, to conspiring with Lai. One of these, Cheung Kim-hung, the former chief executive of Next Digital told the court earlier that Lai had pushed for US sanctions against Hong Kong and China.

Beijing imposed the national security law in July 2020 after months of sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in the Asian financial hub the year before.

Lai had been held in pre-trial detention for over 1,400 days, before his trial kicked off last December. He is already serving a five year, nine month jail term for a fraud conviction over a lease dispute for his newspaper.

Diplomats from the US, UK, Germany, France, Australia, Switzerland and Ireland were present at the hearing.

The US government has condemned Lai’s prosecution and called for his immediate release.

If convicted, the 76-year-old could be jailed for life, and his plight could emerge as a friction point between the US and China in the new Trump administration.

When asked last month whether he would speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping to get Lai out of China if he won the election, President-elect Donald Trump told conservative political commentator Hugh Hewitt in a podcast: “100%”.

“I’ll get him out. He’ll be easy to get out,” Trump said. 

Iran will back any decision taken by Lebanon in talks to secure a ceasefire with Israel, a senior Iranian official said on Friday (Nov 15), signalling Tehran wants to see an end to a conflict that has dealt heavy blows to its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

Israel launched airstrikes in the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut, flattening buildings for a fourth consecutive day. Israel has stepped up its bombardment of the area this week, an escalation that has coincided with signs of movement in US-led diplomacy towards a ceasefire.

Two senior Lebanese political sources told Reuters that the US ambassador to Lebanon had presented a draft ceasefire proposal to Lebanon’s parliament speaker Nabih Berri the previous day. Berri is endorsed by Hezbollah to negotiate and met the senior Iranian official Ali Larijani on Friday.

Asked at a news conference whether he had come to Beirut to undermine the US truce plan, Larijani said: “We are not looking to sabotage anything. We are after a solution to the problems.”

“We support in all circumstances the Lebanese government. Those who are disrupting are Netanyahu and his people,” Larijani added, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Hezbollah was founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982, and has been armed and financed by Tehran.

One major sticking point is Israel’s demand to retain freedom to act should Hezbollah violate any agreement – a demand Lebanon has rejected.

Israel launched its offensive against Hezbollah after almost a year of cross-border hostilities ignited by the Gaza war, declaring it wanted to secure the return home of tens of thousands of people forced to evacuate from northern Israel.

Israel’s campaign has forced more than 1 million people to flee their homes in Lebanon, igniting a humanitarian crisis.

It has dealt Hezbollah serious blows, killing its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and other commanders, using airstrikes to pound areas of Lebanon where Hezbollah has political and military sway, and sending troops into the south.

Hezbollah has kept up rocket attacks into Israel and its fighters have been battling Israeli troops in the south.

FLATTENED BUILDINGS

It has dealt Hezbollah serious blows, killing its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and other commanders. Hezbollah has kept up rocket attacks into Israel and its fighters have been battling Israeli troops in the south.

On Friday, Israeli airstrikes flattened five more buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh. One of them was located near one of Beirut’s busiest traffic junctions, Tayouneh, in an area where Dahiyeh meets other parts of Beirut.

The sound of an incoming missile could be heard in footage showing the airstrike near Tayouneh. The targeted building turned into a cloud of rubble and debris which billowed into the adjacent Horsh Beirut, the city’s main park.

The Israeli military said its fighter jets attacked munitions warehouses, a headquarters and other Hezbollah infrastructure. Ahead of the latest airstrikes, the Israeli military issued a warning on social media identifying buildings.

The European Union strongly condemned the killing of 12 paramedics in an Israeli strike near Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley on Thursday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

“Attacks on healthcare workers and facilities are a grave violation of international humanitarian law,” he wrote on X.

On Thursday, Eli Cohen, Israel’s energy minister and a member of its security cabinet, told Reuters prospects for a ceasefire were the most promising since the conflict began.

The Washington Post reported that Netanyahu was rushing to advance a Lebanon ceasefire with the aim of delivering an early foreign policy win to US President-elect Donald Trump.

According to Lebanon’s health ministry, Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,386 people through Wednesday since Oct 7, 2023, the vast majority of them since late September. It does not distinguish between civilian casualties and fighters.

Hezbollah attacks have killed about 100 civilians and soldiers in northern Israel, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and southern Lebanon over the last year, according to Israel.