Lebanon's cabinet on Tuesday tasked the army with drawing up a plan to establish a state monopoly on arms by the end of the year, a challenge to Hezbollah, which has rejected calls to disarm since last year's devastating war with Israel.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is under growing pressure from the US to ensure that the Iran-aligned militant group lays down its weapons.View on euronews

Hezbollah is sharply criticizing the Lebanese government’s decision to begin a process aiming to disarm the Iran-backed group this year, saying it “fully achieves” neighboring Israel’s interests