Lebanon has depleted its demolition charge supply after blowing up dozens of Hezbollah weapons depots while rushing to meet a year-end deadline to disarm the Iran-backed group under a ceasefire with Israel.
The clearing, mainly facilitated in the nation’s south, is part of a November 2024 truce that ended more than a year of fighting between Tel Aviv and the Shia Islamist militia.
Terms agreed only permit Beirut’s state forces to possess weapons, pushing the military into an unprecedented disarmament campaign.
Throughout the operation, Lebanese troops have used up nearly all available demolition charges, leaving them to seal and guard weapons sites while waiting for new supplies from the US, according to Reuters.
Washington has already committed $14 million in explosives and equipment and another $192 million in broader military aid to support the initiative, but shipments could take months to arrive.
US Pressure and Israeli Complications
Despite the challenges, the American government continues to press Lebanon to continue dismantling Hezbollah’s stockpiles. US Deputy Middle East Envoy Morgan Ortagus met President Joseph Aoun in Beirut this week to discuss the effort.
The Lebanese Armed Forces rely on intelligence shared through a US-led coordination group with Israel, France, and UN peacekeepers to locate Hezbollah’s military sites, but Israeli fire and the continued occupation of several border hilltops have disrupted some inspection missions, officials said.
Fragile Political Balance
Weakened by the conflict that killed thousands of its fighters, Hezbollah has not resisted the army’s disarmament efforts in southern Lebanon but insists the campaign end at the Litani River.
Military officials warn that expanding operations north without a political deal could heighten tensions or split the army along sectarian lines.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah’s current leader, Naim Qassem, has called the Lebanese army’s handling of the process “good and balanced” but warned that targeting the Shiite community could provoke a confrontation.
“The rest — that depends on a political settlement, which we don’t yet have. The army is betting on time,” said a Lebanese official close to Hezbollah.
