In an important visit, the head of the Lebanese military met with US counterparts this week. Al-Arabiya noted that the meetings took place “in recent days as Beirut looks to shore up international support for the country’s military and state institutions.”
The report added that “Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) commander, Gen. Rodolphe Haykal, visited the United States Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida, on Monday.”
Haykal was supposed to visit the US last November, but the meetings were cancelled. Lebanon continues to claim progress regarding disarming Hezbollah. Israel also continues almost daily airstrikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is evidence that the group apparently is re-arming or at least not disarming.
Al-Arabiya noted that the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) have “been at the forefront of the Lebanese state’s efforts, under President Joseph Aoun, to disarm Hezbollah and all other non-state groups in the country. This plan was devised at the request of Aoun and his cabinet following the election of a new government last year. It also came after Hezbollah was severely weakened during an Israeli campaign that took out the group’s top leaders, including Hassan Nasrallah.”
US Central Command, which is based in Florida even though it deals with the Middle East, posted photos of the visit “US Marine Corps Forces, Central Command (MARCENT) hosted a bilateral engagement with senior Lebanese Armed Forces leaders at MacDill AFB, reinforcing continued coordination and dialogue through the Cessation of Hostilities Supervisory Committee (the Mechanism).”
Lebanese army seeks US support to disarm non-state actors
The US Embassy in Beirut also noted “the LAF’s ongoing work to disarm non-state actors and reinforce national sovereignty as Lebanon’s security guarantor is more important than ever.”
Al-Arabiya concluded that “Haykal will head back to Washington this week for meetings with Trump administration officials. Among others, he will meet the Pentagon’s Assistant Secretary for International Security Affairs, Daniel Zimmerman. Haykal will also meet with US lawmakers on Capitol Hill.”
Other reports say that the Lebanese army chief will return to Beirut on February 5, where he will report to the Lebanese cabinet.
The IDF said on February 2 that “the IDF struck several Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in southern Lebanon, in order to prevent reestablishment attempts of the terrorist organization.
One of the facilities struck was located in the heart of a civilian area. This is yet another example of Hezbollah's cynical use of Lebanese civilians as human shields, and continued operations from within civilian infrastructure.”