Amid the ongoing conflict with Iran, analysts say the Trump administration should pressure Lebanon to fulfill its commitments to disarm the Iran-backed terrorist group as it drags the country into another war with Israel.
David Schenker, a former U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs who oversaw Lebanon’s policy during the first Trump administration and now directs the Program on Arab Politics at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said: “The U.S. should make clear to Lebanon that it is time for the state to honor its ceasefire commitment to disarm Hezbollah,” he told Fox News Digital. Schenker warned if Beirut “doesn’t pursue disarmament, it will remain a failed state.”
The warning comes as the IDF attacked multiple Hezbollah targets Friday in response to the terror group’s launching of rockets and drones toward Israel on March 2, its first attack since a November 2024 ceasefire ended the previous round of fighting.
