Lebanese PM Salam Announces Disarmament South of Litani River by End of 2025
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced plans to disarm armed groups, including Hezbollah, south of the Litani River by the end of the year. Additional efforts to consolidate Hezbollah’s arsenal elsewhere will be undertaken over the course of 2026.
The prime minister, speaking to Qatar’s Al Arabi TV, said the effort excludes locations that remain under Israeli control. He added that Lebanon’s broader negotiating framework with Israel has expanded beyond uniformed representatives. “If there is a need for other civilians to participate in negotiations, we will do so,” he said.
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Officials from both countries convened Wednesday for direct civilian-level discussions near the border, a rare meeting backed by Washington and described by Israel as an early attempt to determine whether the ceasefire that took effect last year can form the basis for more stable situation. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the gathering was intended as “an initial attempt to establish a basis for a relationship and economic cooperation.”
The meeting took place under significant pressure from the US, with special envoy for Lebanon and deputy to senior envoy Steve Witkoff, Morgan Ortagus, meeting with Israeli officials last week to discuss ongoing military activity despite the ceasefire, Hezbollah’s efforts to rearm, and the Lebanese military’s failure to contain it.
Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, told the Beirut-based outlet This Is Beirut that steps to remove Hezbollah’s weapons and curtail Iranian influence could “open a door to peace, economic growth and shared opportunities.” Addressing Lebanese citizens directly, Leiter said, “We want to live with you in peace and harmony. We have no interest in your land, only in our security. We are threatened and therefore we respond, because we want to live in security — just as you do. Let us pray that next year, 2026, will become the year of Abraham Accords 2.0, and we will all live in peace and harmony.”
