Lebanon's cabinet decision gave the army until the end of August to submit a disarmament plan to the government. Lebanon's cabinet has told the army to draw up a plan to establish a state monopoly on arms in a challenge to the Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim terrorist group Hezbollah,

Lebanon's cabinet convened again on Thursday to discuss the thorny task of disarming Hezbollah, a day after the Iran-backed group rejected the government's decision to take away its weapons.

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.