From words to action: President Aoun's vision for state-controlled arms, without clashes with Hezbollah

Report by Edmond Sassine, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi    

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the decision to restrict weapons exclusively to the state has been made, emphasizing that the focus must now shift to implementing the policy through dialogue, not force. 

Speaking to Al Jazeera before departing for an official visit to Qatar, Aoun affirmed the ongoing diplomatic efforts with Arab and international actors to pressure Israel into withdrawing from South Lebanon and resolving the issue of prisoners.

Aoun reaffirmed Lebanon's readiness to revive the 1949 Armistice Agreements with Israel through border demarcation, including forming a dedicated committee.

The president also commended the Lebanese Army for its extensive operations both south and north of the Litani River. He noted that the military continues to dismantle tunnels and weapons storage sites and to confiscate arms caches—all without clashes with Hezbollah.

He reiterated Lebanon's need for a national security strategy involving Hezbollah through dialogue. 

However, what is the difference between the defensive strategy previously discussed in Parliament and Baabda Palace and the national security strategy Aoun envisions?
 
The proposed defensive strategy focuses mainly on Lebanon's military defense, Hezbollah's weapons, and its ties with the state. 

The national security strategy he envisions is broader. It would encompass health, economic, social, financial, food, diplomatic, media, and judicial security—under which a defense strategy emerges from within this larger framework.

The president's remarks notably included a reference to a recent army raid in the town of Barja in the Chouf district, north of the Litani. 

According to military sources, the army has taken control of several weapons depots in areas north of the Litani and into the Bekaa Valley, either due to citizen reports or because the sites posed a public safety risk. 

Sources said that these operations were not subject to the same procedures followed in South Lebanon, where the Israeli army typically informs the U.N. committee monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire of suspected Hezbollah locations, which then notifies the Lebanese Army.

South of the Litani, the army has begun sealing off caves and facilities it had previously secured, in a bid to prevent future use by any armed group.