Trump administration pressures Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah by 2025

Trump administration increases pressure on Lebanon’s government to disarm Iran-backed terrorist movement; a senior US official calls Lebanon a “failed state” for its inaction.

U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Thomas Barrack, who also serves as envoy to Lebanon and Syria, said in Bahrain on Saturday that Lebanon is a “failed state” because of its “paralyzed government,” according to the Associated Press. He also noted that Hezbollah has 40,000 fighters and between 15,000 and 20,000 rockets and missiles, and that the terror group pays its militias $2,200 a month, while Lebanese Armed Forces soldiers earn $275 a month and also have lower equipment.

In November 2024, the USA mediated a ceasefire between Hezbollah, which the USA defines as a terrorist organization, and Israel. In August, the Lebanese government adopted an American plan to disarm Hezbollah by the end of 2025.

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But Lebanon’s fragile government and military have failed to end Hezbollah’s operations across the country, according to Israeli officials and the group’s leading experts.

Sarit Zehavi, a leading Israeli security expert at the Israel Alma Research and Training Center, told Fox News Digital: “Israel is the only country that has disarmed Hezbollah with airstrikes. The Lebanese army is far from adequate. We see no evidence that the Lebanese army has disarmed Hezbollah. The Lebanese army does not enter villages in southern Lebanon to search for Hezbollah’s weapons inside houses.”

Hezbollah members salute and raise the group’s yellow flags during the funeral of their comrades Ismail Baz and Mohammed Hussein Shuhuri, who were martyred in an Israeli attack on their vehicles, in Shehabiya, southern Lebanon, on April 17, 2024. (AFP via Getty Images)

Zehavi, who lives in northern Israel, said that the Lebanese army should go from house to house, from neighborhood to neighborhood, load weapons into trucks and publish what was seized.

He added that the names of the villages cleared of Hezbollah weapons should be disclosed. “All this is not happening,” Zehavi said.

“Disarming Hezbollah and other non-state actors and ending Iran’s proxy activities are vital to ensuring peace and stability in Lebanon and throughout the region,” a US State Department official told Fox News Digital. “An armed Hezbollah is a threat to Lebanon and its neighbors. The region and the world are watching this carefully. A stable Lebanon will offer attractive investment opportunities.”

The Lebanese army “must now fully implement its plan,” U.S. Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus said in Lebanon on Wednesday.

An Israeli government security official expressed concerns in an interview with Fox News Digital.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (right) meets with US President Donald Trump’s Deputy Special Representative for the Middle East, Morgan Ortagus (left), at Baabda Palace in Beirut, Lebanon, on February 07, 2025. (Photo: Presidency of Lebanon / Statement/Anatolia, via Getty Images)

“We feel obliged to the American mechanism. We transfer Hezbollah’s violations to the American mechanism. We saw that the Lebanese army implemented the ceasefire, but the pace is insufficient,” said the security official, and continued: “We have been shooting Hezbollah terrorist activists almost every day since the ceasefire. Most of these officers operate from civilian areas. The IDF is making a lot of effort. [into] We do not target civilian areas. “We cannot tolerate Hezbollah’s attempts to rebuild its capabilities.”

Tensions rose on Wednesday when the Lebanese army condemned an Israeli attack that killed a municipal worker in the border town of Blida, calling it a “criminal act” and a violation of the ceasefire agreement.

The IDF said its forces opened fire after detecting an “immediate threat” during the operation to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure.

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A flag bearing the image of assassinated pro-Iran Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah flies in front of a photo of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei at a ceremony commemorating the first anniversary of Nasrallah’s killing in an Israeli airstrike on his grave in Beirut. Beirut, Lebanon, September 27, 2025. (Marwan Naamani/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Thursday ordered the army to counter any Israeli attack on southern Lebanon after Israeli forces crossed the border overnight and killed a municipal worker despite a US-brokered ceasefire.

The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) has historically remained on the sidelines in major conflicts with Israel and has not confronted its army in recent months. Israeli warplanes flew over the presidential palace in Beirut shortly after Aoun gave the first order for the military to engage Israeli troops since he became president in January, according to a witness.

A convoy of United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) vehicles passes through the Marjayoun region in southern Lebanon on December 4, 2024, during a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo: -/AFP via Getty Images)

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) condemned the Israeli attack, calling it “a clear violation of Security Council Resolution 1701 and Lebanon’s sovereignty.”

The security official of the Israeli government said, “We trust the ceasefire. We have common interests with the Lebanese state and we also have common interests in disarming Hezbollah. Our responsibility is, first of all, to Israel. We have civilians who have returned to the north and must ensure their safety.”

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The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was tasked with assisting the Lebanese Army in disarming Hezbollah and establishing military outposts along the Israeli border before October 7. Israeli officials have long argued that UNIFIL has failed miserably.

When asked about allegations that Hezbollah is rearming and rebuilding command centers, UNIFIL spokesman Tilak Pokharel told Fox News Digital that UNIFIL operates from the Litani river to the Blue Line, a border region covering 10% of Lebanese territory. “We have not seen any accumulation and we work every day in support of the Lebanese Armed Forces. Until the beginning of this week, we found 360 weapons and ammunition depots since November 27, 2025.” he said.

An IDF soldier is photographed near anti-tank missiles belonging to the terrorist group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. (IDF)

Media outlets reported that a French unit of UNIFIL shot down an Israeli drone this week. “We normally do not name the unit concerned,” said a UNIFIL spokesman.

Matthew Levitt, a leading scholar on Hezbollah at the Washington Institute, told Fox News Digital: “No one should be surprised that Hezbollah is struggling to rebuild its capabilities. So no one should be surprised that Israeli forces continue to hit Hezbollah forces not only in the south but also in the Bekaa Valley. While there is a government in Beirut willing to restrict Hezbollah, the group is also under pressure internally. Watch out for the Central Bank of Lebanon’s action against AI.” Qard al Hassan and other Hezbollah financial institutions in Lebanon are a striking example of this.”

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American academic expert Walid Phares, who advises US presidential candidates on Hezbollah and Lebanon, analyzed the movements of Lebanese citizens towards establishing diplomatic relations with Israel.

“Recently, there has been a noticeable increase in statements by Lebanese politicians and social media influencers calling for the establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel and an end to the ongoing war,” he told Fox News Digital.

He added: “Many Lebanese witnessed Hezbollah’s defeat in the conflict with Israel, which dispelled the long-held idea that Hezbollah had promoted that Hezbollah was invincible. But despite this military defeat, militias in Lebanon do not appear to intend to lay down their arms. Hezbollah remains determined to maintain control over Lebanon and suppress other communities. Moreover, the group continues to receive directives from the Islamic Republic of Iran to withstand current conditions and prepare for the future.” conflict

“As a result, a growing number of Lebanese are calling on their government to open a dialogue with Israeli leaders, hoping that such a step will help the United States assist Lebanon in disarming Hezbollah.”

Lebanon, Naqoura: A photograph taken during recruitment into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and reviewed by the IDF censorship office before publication shows an Israeli soldier walking at a tunnel entrance near an observation post of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), in the South Lebanese village of Naqoura on the Israeli border. (Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/Image alliance, via Getty Images)

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A US State Department official told Fox News Digital: “The Government of Lebanon has made the bold and historic decision to disarm Hezbollah, which is the mission it has given to the Lebanese Armed Forces as the sole legitimate armed force in Lebanon. We offer our full support for this decision. The United States will continue to partner with the Government of Lebanon to ensure that Lebanon is free, prosperous and safe for all Lebanese people.”

The Lebanese embassy in Washington, DC, and its government in Beirut did not respond to multiple questions from Fox News Digital media.