Military official says army evaluating situation between Awwali and Litani rivers

The Lebanese Army is “logistically assessing the situation between the Awali and Litani rivers," a Lebanese military source said, noting that "based on this assessment, the army will develop a vision for the second phase of arms monopolization."

The source emphasized to Al-Jazeera that "military efforts in phase 2 must coincide with political, social and economic efforts," pointing out that "Israeli attacks and a lack of cooperation from Hezbollah’s social environment could obstruct the implementation of the second phase."

The source added that the second phase requires “national agreements and securing (military) aid,” warning that “if no alternative to UNIFIL is provided, there may be friction between the Lebanese and Israeli armies."

“The army needs to recruit 4,000 personnel following the withdrawal of UNIFIL forces,” the source said, adding that “checkpoints have been reinforced across all regions to prevent the transfer of weapons north of the Litani” and that “any discovered weapons are being confiscated.”

The source also confirmed that officers from the former Syrian regime were detained, but that “investigations did not show they were planning any movements.”