Disarming Hezbollah the only way forward for Lebanon

Lebanon and Israel last week signed in Washington the US-brokered framework that provides for a phased Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, while the Lebanese Armed Forces assumes control and works to prevent armed groups from operating there. Since it was signed, what I describe as the Lebanese “woke” left of analysts and opinion leaders have been relentless in criticizing this agreement.

Stating their “selfless and human” opinion, which they treat as the self-evident truth, they describe the agreement as asymmetric and declare Lebanon’s limited leverage, along with the US’ likely pro-Israel bias as a mediator. Other voices condemned it as a capitulation that fails to secure a full Israeli withdrawal, risks domestic confrontation between the army and Hezbollah, and may block international accountability for alleged war crimes.

In short, these opinions of supposedly independent thinkers are fully aligned with those of Hezbollah’s leaders and members. They might have voiced even stronger opposition. They are in full agreement with Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem’ statements, which rejected the deal as “null and void,” describing it as “humiliating, shameful and a surrender of sovereignty.” Qassem added that it legitimizes the Israeli occupation by conditioning withdrawal on Hezbollah’s disarmament.

These critics repeated the veiled threat of lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah, who warned the agreement could spark “internal conflict,” meaning Hezbollah’s willingness to engage in a civil war. Finally, they are also in harmony with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who called the deal an attempt to incite strife and stated “it will not be implemented.”

This IRGC-backed terrorist group has caused the greatest harm to the territorial integrity and prosperity of the country

Khaled Abou Zahr

What I find fascinating is that this “woke” Lebanese bourgeois left is so worried and undignified about the impact this framework might have on Lebanon’s sovereignty, yet it does not have the same fear for the country’s sovereignty that is currently being flouted by Hezbollah and the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. This, for them, is fine and acceptable. Hezbollah’s theft of the decision of war and peace in Lebanon is acceptable to them. The military arsenal held by Hezbollah outside the state does not raise questions about sovereignty. The fact that Hezbollah threatens Lebanese critics before anyone else is not something that sparks their outrage. It is easier to look the other way.

Let us ask a few questions. Who invited Israel to control a military buffer zone in southern Lebanon ? Who dragged the entire country into a conflict that does not concern it? Who has consistently destroyed the country’s sovereignty and corrupted its institutions? The answer is clear: Hezbollah.

This is why these leftists do not criticize Hezbollah — just like them, it benefits from a weak state that can be bled white. They see the agreement to disarm Hezbollah before any Israeli withdrawal as a risk to the country’s territorial integrity. Yet they fail to answer how Hezbollah protected this integrity. The reality is Hezbollah has destroyed it. This IRGC-backed terrorist group has caused the greatest harm to the territorial integrity and prosperity of the country.

President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam have rightly defended the framework as a necessary “first step” toward restoring sovereignty, ending hostilities and enabling reconstruction with US and international support. There is no doubt that this framework’s application is not easy, but it is also without doubt the right roadmap toward stability.

Moreover, it is Lebanon’s responsibility and the demand of an overwhelming number of Lebanese to disarm Hezbollah and have the state regain its sovereign decision-making duty. There is no other way to be able to negotiate, whether with Israel or Syria, a better future for the entire Levant.

There is no doubt that this framework’s application is not easy, but it is also without doubt the right roadmap toward stability

Khaled Abou Zahr

Lebanon needs unity in order to succeed in making this framework work and to negotiate a long-term peace agreement with Israel. These critics are making it more difficult and emboldening Hezbollah’s position of defiance. By repeatedly stating that Hezbollah is Lebanese and that it is a resistance movement, they are also echoing what the new breed of orientalists in Western capitals are claiming.

It looks as if Lebanon and its never-ending conflicts and destruction fulfill these people’s need for a living and their wish to show granular knowledge. So, they go on repeating the nonsense that Hezbollah is part of the Lebanese fabric and stating the fantasy that there is a political and a military wing. They see themselves as compassionate to the people of the Levant when, in fact, they are the IRGC’s useful idiots.

Aoun needs to find a way for the Lebanese Armed Forces to play the central role in restoring state authority. He needs and deserves the support of all Lebanese in achieving this. Those on the Lebanese left need to start loving the country’s own army more than they adore giving legitimacy to Hezbollah. What they are stating and doing is dangerous and destructive.

It is not an easy agreement to execute but it can allow the army to gradually assume exclusive security control over southern Lebanon and eventually extend it to the entire country. But all this is pending the disarmament of all nonstate armed groups like Hezbollah.

Acknowledging that Hezbollah has brought destruction upon the country, as well as the need to disarm it, should be done not for the sake of the framework but for the future of the country. Establishing a monopoly on weapons and sovereignty and extending state authority via the armed forces is the only way forward for Lebanon and its people.

• Khaled Abou Zahr is the founder of SpaceQuest Ventures, a space-focused investment platform. He is the CEO of EurabiaMedia and editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.