As Israel presses strikes, can US support bolster the Lebanese army’s role?

Report by Bassam Abou Zeid, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian

Since the announcement of the support conference for the Lebanese army, scheduled for March 5, Washington has worked to shield the army from Israeli criticism over its efforts to confine Hezbollah’s weapons.

U.S. officials have not heard any objections from Tel Aviv to the conference. Instead, they have heard insistence on continuing strikes against Hezbollah and on providing the ceasefire monitoring mechanism with information about the locations of the group’s military infrastructure in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa region. 

The mechanism, in turn, notifies the Lebanese army of these sites, after which the army takes action. In recent weeks, it has moved against several such locations, deploying excavators.

Sources indicate that talks held by Lebanese Army Commander Gen. Rodolph Haykal in Washington were decisive in persuading U.S. officials to adopt this position toward Israel.

Haykal responded to what Israel described as evidence of the army’s lack of cooperation with documented proof showing the scale of the army’s operations south of the Litani River and in other areas. U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa played a key role in this effort by communicating with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.

Issa and his counterparts are closely monitoring the army’s implementation of the weapons-confinement process.

They asked Haykal about the considerations that led him to set a timeframe of four to eight months to complete the confinement of weapons north of the Litani River, extending in the first phase to the Awali River.

Sources also said the matter remains at the inquiry stage, with no negative or positive positions taken. They noted that the positive aspect is the existence of a deadline, whether it is long or short. The army has linked the timeframe to the scale of financial and logistical support it has received and expects to receive.

“Support” is the keyword for the U.S. administration. Regarding the scale of that support, the sources said: “Wait a few days and you will know the direction.”