Resurrecting Lebanon's army as Hezbollah cedes towns bordering Israel

Poorly equipped and underfunded armed forces have been promised massive international and Arab aid, according to security and political sources

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After decades of quietly dominating south Lebanon’s border towns militarily, Hezbollah is now paving the way for the country’s army to take control, sources within the group and security forces have confirmed.

It is too early to determine whether this shift will be permanent or if the group – which negotiated a ceasefire with Israel while under fire, adding to the pressure of the talks – is prepared to fully abandon the border area under the threat of further Israeli attacks.

However, according to the same sources and Arab regional officials, the decision has been made to immediately deploy the army in exchange for promises of international and Arab assistance, training and support to strengthen Lebanon's poorly equipped and underfunded armed forces.

“We are betting on the Lebanese army to protect Lebanese sovereignty and safeguard the borders,” a senior Hezbollah official told The National.

“The enemy will certainly continue violating the country's sovereignty and the Lebanese government will have to follow up on this,” the source added, claiming that “the Lebanese resistance prevented Israel from achieving its plans”.

US President Joe Biden this week announced the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, ending a brutal conflict that claimed the lives of more than 3,700 Lebanese and obliterated entire villages.

The deal stipulates a phased withdrawal of Israeli troops occupying Lebanese territory over the next two months, as the Lebanese army and state security forces take control of the country’s southern border. Displaced Lebanese and Israeli civilians will then be allowed to return to their homes.

A US-led committee will be established during this period to oversee a permanent ceasefire, involving UN peacekeepers in Lebanon (Unifil), Lebanese and Israeli officials, and representatives of France.

The agreement is grounded in UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which was used to end the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. The resolution then called for a complete cessation of hostilities and stipulated that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers should operate between the Israeli border and the Litani river, a mandate that was never fully implemented.

Cash-strapped and poorly equipped

On Thursday, as Lebanon’s Parliament voted to extend the term of army commander Gen Joseph Aoun, thousands of troops and hundreds of military vehicles began moving south.

“The army will be heavily deployed in the border areas,” a security source in Beirut told The National. "The decision has been made. It’s serious and it’s going to happen no matter what. Hezbollah didn’t have a visible presence near the border. We all know they operated through tunnels and behind the scenes. Now it’s going to be the army protecting the borders in plain sight."

The reality, however, is more complicated.

The army is cash-strapped, poorly equipped and minimally trained. Most of its tanks and fighter jets date back to the Soviet era and new weapons rely heavily on donations from countries such as Qatar. The US, a key donor to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and its 80,000 members, has provided more than $3 billion in military aid since 2006.

The economic crisis in Lebanon that began in 2019 has further hampered the army. The average salary of low-ranking soldiers has plunged to less than $100 a month due to the collapse of the national currency, which has lost 98 per cent of its value on the parallel market. Inflation has soared, forcing the military to unofficially tolerate soldiers taking second jobs, such as driving taxis, to survive.

Despite these challenges, the ceasefire text obtained by The National requires that the Lebanese government instruct the army to monitor and enforce against any unauthorised entry of arms and related materiel into and throughout Lebanon, including through all border crossings, and against the unauthorised production of arms and materiel within Lebanon.

Starting with the area south of the Litani river, where Hezbollah fighters are not permitted, the army must dismantle all existing unauthorised facilities involved in the production of arms and related materials, and prevent the establishment of such facilities in the future.

To support this effort, the US and France intend to help enable the deployment of 10,000 Lebanese soldiers to the south as soon as possible. They also plan to work with the international community to bolster the LAF’s capabilities and increase its presence.

During the ceasefire negotiations, Lebanese officials sought assurances about the nature of assistance the army would receive.

“We’ve been informed that future aid to Lebanon will primarily target the army, but this aid comes with preconditions: the army must launch campaigns to recruit and train more soldiers,” the security source explained. The US, EU and Arab nations are expected to provide this assistance.

“It’s a monumental task for the army and this is well understood both within Lebanon and by the international community,” the source added, emphasising that “none of the other security agencies in Lebanon have been asked to deploy near the border or send troops. All efforts are focused on strengthening the army to tackle the significant challenges ahead”.

Meanwhile, regional security sources revealed that Arab donors are considering a joint training initiative led by Egypt and Jordan to prepare Lebanese troops for deployment in southern Lebanon and along the Syrian border. A Lebanese political source also suggested that an Arab country might join the committee overseeing the ceasefire at some point.

"Egypt is in exploratory talks with the US, France, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia on formulating a programme for the Egyptian military to train Lebanese army troops," said a source. The training will initially take place in Egypt because of the fragile security in Lebanon.

"It will involve training the Lebanese soldiers on the use of advanced armoured vehicles and tanks, counterterrorism and border monitoring," the source added. Additionally, the Lebanese servicemen will be trained "in coastguard tactics as well as communication. The training will run simultaneously with the planned supply to the Lebanese army with military hardware from the nation’s western backers".

The source warned that the talks were in an early stage and the focus would initially be on south Lebanon and later shift to the border with Syria.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Wednesday spoke by phone to Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and assured him of Cairo’s support for Lebanon’s state institutions, “particularly the Lebanese army”, an official statement said.

Rebuilding Lebanon

During the conflict, which Hezbollah initiated in October last year in support of its ally Hamas in Gaza, the group suffered heavy losses. Many of its leaders were killed and Israel devastated its tunnel networks and missile launchers while killing thousands of civilians in southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese army, which lost several soldiers in Israeli attacks, stayed largely on the sidelines to avoid further escalation, fearful of Israel’s superior air force. Israel and Lebanon have technically been at war since Israel’s creation in 1948, though the Lebanese army has historically steered clear during such conflicts.

But despite that, the army is consistently ranked as Lebanon’s most trusted public institution, considered above sectarian divisions and committed to public service. Since Lebanon’s mass protests in 2019, international donors have emphasised aid is for the Lebanese people rather than the state, citing corruption and mismanagement as key contributors to the crisis.

In 2020, as the economic crisis deepened, the army removed meat from soldiers’ meals due to soaring inflation, highlighting the dire state of its resources. While many countries hesitated to offer direct financial support to Lebanon, they responded to Gen Aoun’s warnings about the poor conditions facing the army’s soldiers.

“It’s like reconstruction,” the security source said. "No country will help rebuild Lebanon unless there’s a relatively stable political environment."

The small country has been without a president since October 2022. The US, France and other countries have been calling for the election of a new head of state to avoid a power vacuum and help stabilise the country's political life. US envoy Amos Hochstein, who mediated the ceasefire talks between Hezbollah and Israel, said the election of the president is vital for Lebanon.

Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri announced on Thursday a new voting session in January to elect a president after several failed attempts over the past two years. Three official sources in Beirut told The National that Lebanon “must” elect a president during the 60-day truce with Israel as part of the ceasefire deal that ended the war with Hezbollah.

The militant group, represented in both parliament and government, has persistently backed Suleiman Frangieh, a close ally of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad. However, recent remarks from Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem hinted at a potential shift. He suggested the group might adopt a more co-operative approach, supporting efforts to elect a president and contribute to reconstruction.

“Hezbollah’s influence over the country’s politics and military must shrink so the army can get the help it needs, and reconstruction can begin," the Lebanese security source said.