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Lebanon to come up with plan on August 31 to convince Hezbollah to disarm, US envoy says

BEIRUT, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Lebanon will come up with a plan on August 31 to convince Hezbollah to disarm, US Special Envoy for Syria and Lebanon Thomas Barrack said on Tuesday.
Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire comes into effect in Beirut Lebanese people wave Hezbollah flags as they celebrate after a ceasefire with Israel came into effect, in the Dahieh district in southern Beirut, Lebanon, 27 November 2024. On the evening of 26 November the US president confirmed that a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah - brokered by the United States and France - had been approved by Israel's cabinet and would come into effect at 02:00 GMT on 27 November. EPA-EFE/WAEL HAMZEH

Israel will give a counterproposal when it receives Lebanon's plan, Barrack said after meeting with the Lebanese president in Beirut.

Barrack said the plan Lebanon was preparing would not necessarily involve military action to persuade Hezbollah to give up its weapons.

"The Lebanese army and the government are not talking about going to war. They are talking about how to convince Hezbollah to give up those arms," he said.

Last week, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem warned the Lebanese government against confronting the Iran-backed group, stating that there would be "no life" in Lebanon if it did.

Hezbollah was severely weakened by a war with Israel last year in which many of the group's leaders and fighters were killed. A U.S.-brokered peace agreement that ended that conflict requires the Lebanese state to disarm armed groups.

Qassem said Hezbollah and its ally Amal had postponed street protests against the U.S.-backed disarmament initiative, allowing room for dialogue with the government, but that future protests could target the U.S. Embassy in Beirut.

Israel signaled it would reduce its military presence in southern Lebanon if the Lebanese Armed Forces acted to disarm Hezbollah, according to a statement from the Israeli prime minister's office.

(Reporting by Jana Choukeir and Nayera AbdallahWriting by Tala RamadanEditing by Peter Graff)

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