The United States has presented Lebanon with a proposal for disarming Hezbollah by the end of the year, along with ending Israel's military operations in the country and the withdrawal of its troops from five positions in south Lebanon,

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.

Lebanon's cabinet on Tuesday tasked the army with developing a plan to disarm Hezbollah by year end, an unprecedented step since civil war factions gave up their weapons decades ago.The thorny decision follows heavy US pressure and comes as part of implementing a November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and militant group Hezbollah including two months of all-out war.