Hizbullah Gets 'Mustaqbal Approval' for Arsal Assault amid Efforts to Avoid Battle

Hizbullah has received approval from essential parties in Lebanon, especially al-Mustaqbal Movement, for carrying out a military campaign in Arsal's outskirts to oust the jihadist Islamic State and Fateh al-Sham groups from the area, a media report said on Thursday.

“Contacts between Haret Hreik and the Center House are still ongoing over the various controversial issues, including the refugee file and the Arsal outskirts battle,” al-Liwaa daily quoted a prominent member of the 'Shiite duo' – Hizbullah and AMAL Movement – as saying.

According to information obtained by al-Liwaa, the military operation is expected to kick off this weekend and Hizbullah has “prepared the needed fighters and weapons.”

“The zero hour was delayed to allow for further negotiations aimed at convincing the terrorist groups to withdraw voluntarily from the outskirts through a safe route to any areas they want inside or outside Syria,” the newspaper added.

There are efforts to “spare Lebanon any possible repercussions, albeit limited, from this battle,” the daily said.

Shiite duo sources also told al-Liwaa that Mustaqbal has devised “a contingency plan to contain any uproar in the Sunni community and to try to gain its support for the Lebanese army in its anti-terror fight.”

The sources expected that Mustaqbal's leader, Prime Minister Saad Hariri, “would visit Arsal and its outskirts in the wake of the expected battle and after the Lebanese army becomes in charge of the entire Lebanese-Syrian border region.”