Lebanon asks army to disarm defiant Hezbollah

Lebanon’s government asked the national army on Tuesday to prepare a plan to monopolize weapons in the hands of the state by the end of the year, a move that aims to disarm the militant Hezbollah group.

The announcement made by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam after a nearly six-hour Cabinet meeting, came shortly after Hezbollah’s leader said his group will not disarm and warned that if Israel intensifies its military operations against his…