Lebanon has received warnings from Washington that Israel intends to continue military operations in southern Lebanon unless Beirut takes more decisive steps to bring Hezbollah’s weapons under State control, according to information obtained by The New Arab.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam received several messages from U.S. officials while in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, including warnings that Israel intends to maintain the security zone it has established in southern Lebanon.

According to the information, Salam was told that Israel would continue its operations “as long as the Lebanese State does not take serious action to disarm Hezbollah” and remains determined to destroy the group’s military infrastructure.

U.S. officials also told Salam that measures taken by the Lebanese government so far were insufficient and that efforts to place all weapons under state control needed to be accelerated.

The warnings come as negotiations over the implementation of the U.S.-backed framework between Lebanon and Israel remain stalled. The framework calls for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory alongside the extension of state authority and the confinement of weapons to the state.

Attention has also turned to Hezbollah and whether the group could enter a direct confrontation with Israel if Israeli operations intensify.

Such a scenario is not expected in the immediate term, however, according to the information, as Hezbollah is closely watching developments between Washington and Tehran, with Iran making Lebanon an important issue in its negotiations with the United States.

Hezbollah has continued to signal that it is open to discussing its weapons within a Lebanese national framework, but has linked any such discussion to an end to Israeli attacks and an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory.

Arab, European support for Lebanon

Salam also received messages of support, particularly from Arab and European countries, backing the Lebanese government’s decisions and Beirut’s demands for Israel to halt its attacks and withdraw from occupied Lebanese territory.

Those countries also supported efforts to prevent a security vacuum in southern Lebanon if the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) expires without renewal.

Salam has previously warned that UNIFIL’s withdrawal without an agreed replacement could create a vacuum in the south and called for a multinational force to fill the gap.

Efforts to find an alternative arrangement are expected to intensify in the coming period as Lebanon and its international partners seek to determine how security responsibilities in the south would be handled after UNIFIL’s mandate ends.