Will US pressure tactics on Lebanon make Hezbollah disarm faster?

Al Jazeera :

Pressure on Hezbollah to disarm is intensifying, spearheaded by the United States and backed by some Lebanese factions.

An Israeli war on Lebanon that killed much of the group’s top leadership last year – as well as hundreds of civilians, including at least 200 children – left the group reeling and was compounded by the fall of an ally, Bashar al-Assad’s regime in neighbouring Syria.

“It’s clear that Hezbollah has to be disarmed, and it’s clear that Israel is not going to accept terrorists shooting at them into their country,” Deputy US Special Envoy to the Middle East Morgan Ortagus told a Lebanese broadcaster during a visit to the country on April 6.

In another interview, when asked if pushing Hezbollah too hard might lead to internal strife, Ortagus said Hezbollah needed to be treated like “a cancer” and removed.

She also said economic and banking reforms are crucial to stop the cash economy that allows Hezbollah to operate outside the banking network and away from US regulation.

The group is in the most precarious position it has been in since its formation during the Lebanese Civil War.

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