The Lebanese cabinet is set to convene Friday to discuss the army’s proposed plan for ensuring that weapons remain exclusively under state control.
After weeks of speculation, Shiite ministers have confirmed their participation, following intensive mediation by President Joseph Aoun with Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
The agreement ensures full quorum for a session that had risked being boycotted over disagreements on the agenda.
The army’s plan, commissioned by the cabinet earlier this year, aims to implement state monopoly on arms before the end of 2025.
The issue has been a point of contention: Shiite ministers opposed linking the proposal to a fixed timeline, arguing that earlier cabinet decisions on the matter were taken in their absence and thus lacked legitimacy. Aoun and Salam, by contrast, pushed for adoption of the plan.
According to political sources, consultations between Hezbollah, Berri, and Aoun produced a compromise. The army’s plan will be included as part of a wider agenda rather than as the sole item for debate - defusing a crisis that could have deepened cabinet divisions.
Berri, in a recent speech marking the disappearance of Imam Musa al-Sadr, left the door open to discussing Hezbollah’s arms, but only within a broader national defense strategy. The move echoed Aoun’s inaugural pledge for a comprehensive security doctrine. Observers say Berri’s message was aimed at framing Hezbollah’s arsenal as an internal Lebanese matter, shielded from Israeli or foreign intervention.
While Berri and Hezbollah have expressed full confidence in the army’s leadership, they remain wary of the government’s approach to implementation. The United States had initially supported synchronized steps to advance disarmament but later reversed its stance in favor of Israel, further complicating the debate.
Despite these tensions, there is broad consensus across Lebanon’s political spectrum on the principle of state monopoly over arms. The dispute centers on mechanisms of enforcement.
Sources say the army’s plan deliberately avoids detailed operational steps, keeping them confidential, and does not impose a strict timeline. The army argues that conditions on the ground, such as hidden infrastructure and entrenched positions, require flexibility.
A senior minister warned that delaying the plan would damage Lebanon’s credibility with its Arab and international partners. Exclusive state control over weapons, he stressed, enjoys the widest possible external support, and retreating from that commitment would undermine Lebanon’s ability to secure foreign aid.
By contrast, adoption of the army’s plan could serve as a “passport” for Lebanon to regain its regional role and attract much-needed assistance.
Aoun’s efforts appear to have defused a potential showdown, at least temporarily. He has consistently stressed that the monopoly on arms is a Lebanese demand before being an international one, essential for restoring sovereignty and fully implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701.
Meanwhile, diplomatic missions in Beirut are closely monitoring preparations for Friday’s session, viewing it as a crucial test of Lebanon’s stability and credibility. The key question is whether ministers will approve the army’s plan unanimously, leaving execution to military command without binding deadlines.
