Lebanese military moves to new phase of disarming non-state groups like Hezbollah

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon's military said Thursday it had concluded the first phase of a plan to fully deploy across southern Lebanon and disarm non-state groups, notably Hezbollah.

Israel said the development was encouraging but “far from sufficient," and its Foreign Ministry said the group still has dozens of compounds and other infrastructure.

The effort to disarm Hezbollah comes after a Washington-brokered ceasefire ended a war between the group and Israel in 2024.

The military's statement, which did not name Hezbollah or any other armed groups, came before President Joseph Aoun met with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and his government to discuss the deployment and disarmament plans. Both said disarming non-state groups was a priority upon beginning their terms not long after the ceasefire went into effect.

Lebanon's top officials have endorsed the military announcement.

A statement by Aoun’s office ahead of the Cabinet meeting called on Israel to stop its attacks, withdraw from areas it occupies, and release Lebanese prisoners. He called on friendly countries not to send weapons to Lebanon unless it's to state institutions — an apparent reference to Iran which for decades has sent weapons and munitions to Hezbollah.

Speaker Nabih Berri, a key ally of Hezbollah who played a leading role in ceasefire talks, issued a statement saying the people of southern Lebanon are “thirsty for the army's presence and protection."

Israel maintains that despite Lebanon’s efforts, Hezbollah is still attempting to rearm itself in southern Lebanon.

“The ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States between Israel and Lebanon states clearly, Hezbollah must be fully disarmed," a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office read. “This is imperative for Israel’s security and Lebanon’s future.”

Israel's Foreign Ministry said in a later statement that the group is “rearming faster than it is being disarmed," and showed a map of alleged Hezbollah compounds, launch sites, and underground networks south of the Litani River.

The text of the ceasefire agreement is vague as to how Hezbollah’s weapons and military facilities north of the Litani River should be treated, saying Lebanese authorities should dismantle unauthorized facilities starting with the area south of the river.

Hezbollah insists that the agreement only applies south of the Litani, while Israel maintains that it applies to the whole country. The Lebanese government has said it will eventually remove non-state weapons throughout the country.

The agreement is seen as a procedure to implement prior United Nations Security Council agreements that call for disarmament of non-state groups and the withdrawal of all occupying forces, and for the Lebanese state to have full control of its territory.

Information Minister Paul Morcos said after the Cabinet meeting that the army will start working on a plan for disarmament north of the Litani river that will be discussed by the government in February. He added that the army will also continue the process of weapons “containment” in other parts of Lebanon, meaning that they will not be allowed to be used or moved.

The Lebanese military has been clearing tunnels, rocket-launching positions, and other structures since its disarmament proposal was approved by the government and went into effect in September.

The government had set a deadline of the end of 2025 to clear the area south of the Litani River of non-state weapons.

“The army confirms that its plan to restrict weapons has entered an advanced stage, after achieving the goals of the first phase effectively and tangibly on the ground,” the military statement read. “Work in the sector is ongoing until the unexploded ordnance and tunnels are cleared ... with the aim of preventing armed groups from irreversibly rebuilding their capabilities.”

Hezbollah did not immediately comment on the Lebanese announcement.

Officials have said the next stage of the disarmament plan is in segments of southern Lebanon between the Litani and the Awali rivers, which include Lebanon’s port city of Sidon, but they have not set a timeline for that phase.

Israel continues to strike Lebanon near daily and occupies five strategic hilltop points along the border, the only areas south of the Litani where the military said it has yet to control.

Regular meetings have taken place between the Lebanese and the Israelis alongside the United States, France, and the U.N. peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, to monitor developments after the ceasefire.

Lebanon’s cash-strapped military has since been gradually dispersing across wide areas of southern Lebanon between the Litani and the U.N.-demarcated “Blue Line” that separates the tiny country from Israel. The military has also been slowly confiscating weapons from armed Palestinian factions in refugee camps.

Israel accuses Hezbollah of trying to rebuild its battered military capacity and has said that the Lebanese military’s efforts are not sufficient, raising fears of a new escalation. Lebanon, meanwhile, said Israel's strikes and control of the hilltops were an obstacle to the efforts.

Lebanon also hopes that disarming Hezbollah and other non-state groups will help to bring in money needed for reconstruction after the 2024 war.

Hezbollah says it has been cooperative with the army in the south but will not discuss disarming elsewhere before Israel stops its strikes and withdraws from Lebanese territory.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict began the day after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel triggered the war in Gaza. The militant group Hezbollah, largely based in southern Lebanon, began firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas and the Palestinians.

Israel responded with airstrikes and shelling. The low-level conflict escalated into full-scale war in September 2024. Israeli strikes killed much of Hezbollah's senior leadership and left the group severely weakened.

Hezbollah still has political clout, holding a large number of seats in parliament representing the Shiite Muslim community and two cabinet ministers.

File — French U.N. peacekeepers inspect a destroyed Hezbollah position in the Saluki Valley, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

FILE — A Lebanese army soldier walks through a tunnel dug into a mountain that was used by Hezbollah militants as a clinic and storage facility near the Lebanese-Israeli border in the Zibqin Valley, southern Lebanon, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)

In this photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office, Lebanese army chief Gen. Rudolph Haikal, second background left, speaks during a cabinet meeting at the presidential place in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (Lebanese Presidency press office via AP)

People check the site where an Israeli strike destroyed a building at a commercial district, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

FILE - Lebanese army soldiers walk through a tunnel dug into a mountain that was used by Hezbollah militants as a clinic and storage facility near the Lebanese-Israeli border in the Zibqin Valley, southern Lebanon, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department is taking a closer look at financial transactions between Minnesotan residents and businesses and Somalia as the federal government ramps up its immigration crackdown in the state, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters on Friday during a visit to the state.

Bessent said his agency has launched a series of actions to combat fraud in the state and has launched investigations into four businesses that people use to wire money to family members abroad to do more to scrutinize transactions. He did not name the businesses.

His visit to the state coincides with protests in Minneapolis after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot a woman in a residential neighborhood south of downtown on Wednesday, leading to a clash between federal and local leaders.

President Donald Trump has targeted the Somali diaspora in the Democratic-led state with immigration enforcement actions and has made a series of disparaging comments about the community, directing Bessent to uncover more fraud. The Treasury first announced last month that it would begin targeting money service businesses, focusing on remittances to Somalia.

The department's actions have been prompted in part by a series of fraud cases, including a nonprofit called Feeding Our Future accused of stealing coronavirus pandemic aid meant for school meals. Prosecutors have put the losses from that case at $300 million.

Gov. Tim Walz, before he ended his bid to serve a third term this week, said that fraud will not be tolerated in Minnesota and that his administration “will continue to work with federal partners to ensure fraud is stopped and fraudsters are caught.” Walz, who came under heavy criticism from Republicans who said his administration should have caught the Feeding Our Future fraud earlier, said he was “furious” with “criminals that preyed on the system that was meant to feed children.”

The founder of Feeding our Future, Aimee Bock, was charged with multiple counts involving conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery and was convicted in March while maintaining her innocence.

Bessent declined to comment on specific investigations but said he had met with several financial institutions on Friday to ask them to do more to prevent fraud. The department has not disclosed which institutions Bessent spoke with.

Key Treasury actions include Financial Crimes Enforcement Network investigations into Minnesota-based money services businesses, enhanced transaction reporting requirements for international transfers from Hennepin and Ramsey counties, and alerts to financial institutions on identifying fraud tied to child nutrition programs.

“Treasury will deploy all tools to bring an end to this egregious unchecked fraud and hold perpetrators to account,” Bessent told reporters on Friday.

Bessent’s announcement was met with some criticism. Nicholas Anthony, a policy analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute, said Bessent is “building a legacy of financial surveillance and control."

“The announcement that he is stopping Americans from sending their money abroad and increasing surveillance under the Bank Secrecy Act should be condemned,” Anthony said.

Some Somali leaders said last month they had received anecdotal reports about community members being detained by federal agents but had no details. Those leaders and allies including Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have vowed to protect the community.

During a speech on Thursday about the Republican Trump administration’s economic agenda at the Economic Club of Minnesota, Bessent referred to the alleged fraud, without mentioning the Somali community that his department is targeting.

“I am here this week to signal the U.S. Treasury’s unwavering commitment to recovering stolen funds, prosecuting fraudulent criminals, preventing scandals like this from ever happening again, and investigating similar schemes state by state,” Bessent said.

FILE - U.S. Department of the Treasury Scott Bessent speaks before President Donald Trump arrives at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, Pa., Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)