Israel Urges Lebanon To Wear The Hezbollah Group's Weapons

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday that the militant group Hezbollah was trying to rebuild its weapons force, affirming Israel's right to self-defense under last year's ceasefire agreement if Lebanon failed to bear off the group's weapons.

At the start of yesterday's cabinet meeting, PM Netanyahu said Israel would "act as necessary" if Lebanon did not take steps to prevent its territory from becoming a new front.

Meanwhile, Israel's Defense Minister, Israel Katz, also said the Lebanese government must fulfill its commitment to stripped Himbollah of weapons and expel the group from southern Lebanon. He said maximum law enforcement efforts would continue and be intensified to protect Israelis in the north.

The United States became an intermediary for a ceasefire in November 2024 between Lebanon and Israel after more than a year of conflict sparked by the war in Gaza, but Israeli attacks on the border continued sporadically.

Under the ceasefire agreement, Lebanon agreed that only state security forces could carry weapons, meaning Hezbollah should be fully stripped.

Separately, Lebanese military sources told Reuters they had blown up so many Hezbollah arsenals that they ran out of explosives, and they hoped to complete operations to clean up the country's southern region by the end of the year.

Hezbollah has publicly committed to a ceasefire and has not opposed confiscation of an unmanned arsenal in the south. Hezbollah has not attacked Israel since the November ceasefire.

However, Hezbollah insisted that the removal of weapons, as mentioned in the text, only applies in southern Lebanon and has signaled conflict may occur if the country moves against the group.