The United States has told Lebanon that deploying the army in the south will not be enough to meet its commitments, demanding instead concrete nationwide measures to dismantle Hezbollah’s armed infrastructure and bring its financial and social institutions under State control, Lebanese sources familiar with the matter told Erem News.

The demands were conveyed during a recent Washington meeting between Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, as Washington steps up pressure on Beirut ahead of a new round of direct Lebanese-Israeli talks expected to take place in Tampa, Florida, on Oct. 20.

But the U.S. position conveyed to Beirut goes significantly beyond the southern front, according to the Lebanese sources.

Washington told the Lebanese delegation that an expanded army deployment in southern Lebanon would be insufficient unless accompanied by actual operations to establish the state’s exclusive control over weapons, the sources said.

The United States is demanding the dismantling of all armed manifestations and military bunkers belonging to Hezbollah across Lebanon, rather than limiting such measures to areas south of the Litani River.

Legal action against Hezbollah

Rubio also pressed Lebanon’s judicial and security authorities to launch direct legal proceedings targeting Hezbollah and its parallel institutions, the sources said.

Washington considers such measures an essential component of establishing long-term stability and translating Lebanon’s commitments from political declarations into concrete action.

The U.S. State Department has publicly said it supports efforts by Salam’s government to extend state authority and establish a sovereign Lebanese state outside what it described as Hezbollah and Iranian influence.

Treasury Secretary Bessent has separately urged the Lebanese government to take proactive steps to disrupt Iranian and Hezbollah financial networks while advancing reforms to the banking sector.

Financial pressure

The U.S. demands are also expected to translate into a tougher Lebanese crackdown on Hezbollah’s financial and social networks.

According to the Lebanese sources, Salam’s government is being pushed toward unprecedented administrative and legal measures targeting entities affiliated with the group and its parallel institutional structure.

The measures would seek to bring those entities under Lebanese banking and criminal law while imposing tighter controls on international financial transfers and cash movements.

Particular scrutiny would be placed on the country’s main entry points and transit routes, including the Port of Beirut, Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport and the land borders with Syria, in an effort to prevent smuggling and attempts to circumvent international sanctions.

Army deployment faces tougher test

At the same time, the Lebanese Army has begun preparing an emergency logistical plan to increase the number of troops deployed deeper into southern Lebanon, particularly in the Nabatiyeh and Iqlim al-Tuffah areas, political analyst Tanios Sabri al-Hajj told Erem News.

Al-Hajj said the move was intended to demonstrate that Beirut was serious about becoming a security partner capable of controlling the ground and was preparing for the next security phase expected to emerge from the Tampa talks.

But he warned that the challenge facing the army would not be limited to its ability to deploy additional troops.

The central difficulty, he said, lies in the gap between the army’s logistical capacity and the U.S. and Israeli demands that any expansion of its deployment be accompanied by the dismantling of Hezbollah’s weapons arsenal and military bunkers.

That could expose the Lebanese military to the risk of internal confrontation, he said.

The Tampa talks are therefore emerging as a test of whether Lebanon can translate its commitments into measures on the ground while Washington seeks a broader restructuring of the country’s security and financial landscape.