Joseph Aoun is the president of Lebanon, serving a term that should run until 2031. He is serious about trying to disarm Hizbullah, the Iran-backed militia that has ridden roughshod over the Lebanese state for decades. He also wants to disarm the Palestinian militias in Lebanon's refugee camps; some members of Hizbullah have signalled their assent.
The Lebanese army under Aoun has sent more than half of a planned 10,000-soldier deployment south of the Litani river, carrying out more than 5,000 operations to confiscate weapons. But Aoun frets that being too tough on Hizbullah will lead to sectarian violence. He faces a dilemma: delay risks giving the militia a chance to regroup and alienating Lebanon's allies in America and the Gulf, who are growing frustrated with the pace of disarmament.
On December 3rd 2025 he sent Simon Karam, a former ambassador to America, to negotiate with an Israeli envoy—the first direct talks in decades between Lebanon and Israel.
Frustration is mounting among some Lebanese over Aoun's dithering. The army has done little to act on the government's declaration that Hizbullah's military activities are illegal, insisting that the state cannot move further without a ceasefire.
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