Lebanon says dismantled 'more than 500' Hezbollah installations in south

Prime minister Nawaf Salam said on Thursday that the Lebanese army had dismantled "more than 500 military positions and arms depots" belonging to Hezbollah in the south of the country.In a televised address marking 100 days in office, Salam said his government was pressing ahead with reforms demanded by the international community."The state continues its action... to restore its authority over the entire national territory... and to have a monopoly on arms," he said."The Lebanese army is continuing its deployment and has so far dismantled more than 500 military positions and arms depots south of the Litani river" about 30 kilometres from the Israeli border.Under a November ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group was required to pull its fighters out of the area and dismantle its military infrastructure south of the Litani.Israel was meant to withdraw from all Lebanese territory but has remained in five positions along the border and continues to carry out strikes, saying it targets Hezbollah, which was severely weakened in the war."There can be no security or stability while Israel's daily violations persist, parts of our land remain occupied and our prisoners are not freed," said Salam.The prime minister said Lebanon also planned to disarm Palestinian refugee camps, which lie outside the state's control.

In addition, he said the government's economic recovery plan was no "fantasy" but based on fixing past mistakes and overhauling the financial and banking system.He said parliament had adopted a law lifting banking secrecy -- a key demand of the International Monetary Fund -- and that the government approved legislation to restructure the sector.International donors have made these reforms a condition for unlocking billions of dollars to help Lebanon recover from a crippling financial crisis that began in 2019, fuelled by state mismanagement and entrenched corruption.