00:00Right, and we've heard time and time again from the United States and from the Israelis that Lebanon must disarm
00:06Hezbollah, they're told.
00:08They must get rid of that group.
00:10I mean, it's very easily said, quite a different thing to do it.
00:14But we did hear Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel saying last week, disarming Hezbollah will not be achieved by tomorrow.
00:21So a slight softening of the stance there, perhaps giving Lebanon a little bit more time than perhaps they would
00:28have done a few weeks ago.
00:30But how does Lebanon go about doing this?
00:33This is a complex process.
00:35The Israelis have themselves admitted that they are unable to do this alone.
00:40It will take the active involvement of the Lebanese state.
00:43Until present, the Lebanese state has taken very firm decisions, decisions that had not been taken before.
00:51They actually outlawed Hezbollah's military activities.
00:55The government enforced a ban on Hezbollah's military activities.
00:59Now, can it move into action?
01:01Can it move past the decisions into action?
01:05Until now, little has been done.
01:08There are immediate milestones that can be implemented.
01:11The first is Beirut free of arms.
01:15The Lebanese citizens and also the Lebanese government are saying very clearly that their first milestone is to have a
01:22Beirut free of arms.
01:23We're going to have to see if this will happen.
01:25We have seen some deployment of the Lebanese armed forces and of the security forces in Beirut.
01:31But this is far from being achieved until the moment.
01:34A second big milestone is the deployment of the Lebanese armed forces in the southern suburbs of Beirut,
01:40which are traditionally Hezbollah's stronghold.
01:44But also, and part of this bigger process, Hezbollah is not only a military organization.
01:49It's an organization with social institutions, with a huge network within the country.
01:55It has basically built a parallel state.
01:57And dismantling Hezbollah will require dismantling this parallel state and will require that the Lebanese state actually assume its role,
02:07particularly here with Hezbollah's constituency.
02:10And this will necessitate a lot of support.
02:13The Lebanese state cannot pull this off alone.
02:16It will need support from the international community.
02:19One, to provide the capacity and the financing for the Lebanese armed forces, for them to be able to pursue
02:25this.
02:26And two, to provide support to the state itself so that it can provide the basic services to its citizens,
02:33including the constituencies that previously depended on Hezbollah.
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