Graham says 'Plan B' should be disarming Hezbollah by force

Hardline Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham has stressed that “it’s time for Hezbollah to go.”

“They are trained by Iran, they are loyal to Iran, and we’re looking for military power in Lebanon to be loyal to the Lebanese people and a good partner to the region,” Graham, who is the Chair of the Senate Budget Committee, said at a press conference in Tel Aviv, after meeting officials in Lebanon and Israel.

“If we cannot reach a peaceful disarmament solution for Hezbollah, then we need to look at Plan B. Plan B is disarming Hezbollah by military force,” Graham added.

“Also, there is a decision made to eliminate UNIFIL as a U.N. peace keeping organization in the next 15 months. Now that presents an opportunity for the Lebanese Armed Forces to replace a very ineffective UNIFIL and prove to not only the Lebanese people, but Israel and others, that Lebanon has a capability it did not possess before,” the U.S. senator went on to say.

U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus said Tuesday that Lebanese authorities must put into "action" their decision to disarm Hezbollah, adding that Israel would respond in kind to any government steps.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered "a phased" pullout of the remaining Israeli troops in Lebanon if Beirut implements its decision to disarm Hezbollah.

U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, who led the U.S. delegation that visited Beirut, noted that the Lebanese Army and government are expected to present a concrete plan to disarm Hezbollah at the end of the month.

"When (the Israelis) see that, they will give their counterproposal of what they will do in withdrawals and security guarantees on their borders, their boundaries," Barrack said.

"What Israel has now said, which is historic, is we don't want to occupy Lebanon," he added, saying that Israeli officials are waiting to "see what is the plan to actually disarm Hezbollah."

Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has repeatedly refused to give up the group's weapons.

Under heavy U.S. pressure and amid fears of expanded Israeli military action, Lebanon's government this month tasked the army with drawing up a plan to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year.

The decision is part of a November ceasefire brokered by the United States that ended more than a year of hostilities between the group and Israel.

The agreement requires Hezbollah to redeploy its fighters north of the Litani River, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, to be replaced by Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers.

It also requires Israel to fully withdraw from Lebanon, where it currently retains troops in five places it deems strategic.