Israel to 'lethally' strike Dahieh and Bekaa, if Hezbollah not disarmed

As the world prepares to celebrate a new year, the Lebanese are living day by day amid fears and threats of a renewed war.

The Lebanese army has been tasked by the government to disarm Hezbollah by the year end, under U.S. pressure and Israel's almost daily strikes. However, the army's resources are too limited and Israel is accusing it of not doing the job.

The army chief was scheduled to visit Washington last month but the trip was called off after U.S. political and military officials cancelled their meetings with him just hours before he was scheduled to depart.

Influential Republican Senator Lindsey Graham criticized Haykal's "weak almost non-existent effort to disarm Hezbollah" and an army statement that referred to Israel as the "enemy" -- a standard term in official discourse in Lebanon, which has been technically at war with Israel since 1948.

Pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper quoted Thursday a U.S. envoy as saying that Israel will strike Hezbollah especially in the Bekaa and in Beirut's southern suburbs, if it doesn't disarm.

The local daily quoted Morgan Ortagus as saying that Israel would carry out major and "lethal" strikes against Hezbollah if the group refuses to hand over its precision missiles and drones by the year end.

The Lebanese government first aimed to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year, but officials later said resources are too limited to meet the deadline. The current aim is to fully clear a stretch along the Lebanon-Israel border, defined as south of the Litani river, before moving into further phases.

Hezbollah has rejected the plan, saying it won’t discuss disarmament as long as Israel continues to occupy several hills along the border and carries out almost daily strikes.

Recently, Lebanon and Israel moved toward direct negotiations as they appointed civil representatives to lead their delegations to the ceasefire monitoring committee. Israel says the talks are governmental and economic, while Lebanon refuses to call them "direct" negotiations or normalization of ties, with officials saying the only discussed issues are Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon, a halt to its attacks on the country, and the return of Lebanese prisoners.

On Wednesday, Speaker Nabih Berri met with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and a delegation from the American Task Force for Lebanon. Issa said after the meeting that Israel differentiates between the Lebanese government and Hezbollah and that the negotiations with the government don't mean that the war on Hezbollah will stop.

Local al-Jadeed TV channel said that the American delegation warned Berri that the U.S. will cease to help and cooperate with Lebanon if it fails to disarm Hezbollah and to carry out economic reforms by the year end.