A bipartisan group of House lawmakers wrote to the president and prime minister of Lebanon on Wednesday demanding they urgently move forward to disarm Hezbollah, in accordance with the ceasefire agreement signed by Lebanon and Israel in November 2024. 

The group accused the Lebanese government of failing to fulfill its promises and obligations to disarm the terrorist group and threatened a withdrawal of U.S. support if it does not change course.

“We write to you with a critical message: disarm Hezbollah now, including by force if necessary,” the letter reads. “Empty promises and partial measures that fall far short of disarming the group are clearly not enough. The lack of real progress has enabled Hezbollah to rearm and rebuild its positions, even in areas south of the Litani River, where it is prohibited from operating under UN Security Council Resolution 1701.”

The lawmakers continued, “Every day your government fails to act in a meaningful way pushes Lebanon closer to renewed war and deeper into the grip of a terrorist organization loyal to Iran, not to the Lebanese people.”

The letter argues that the failure to pursue disarmament has left families in southern Lebanon displaced and endangered, allowed Hezbollah to rebuild and threatened Lebanon’s future. The lawmakers said that the Lebanese government’s continued failure to fulfill its obligations would lead to renewed Israeli strikes and would risk the withdrawal of U.S. support for the Lebanese government.

“The time for empty promises has passed. Lebanon’s obligations under the ceasefire are clear, and so is the risk of continued delay,” the letter reads. “The United States will also find it increasingly difficult to justify continued support for a government that refuses to uphold its own commitments and allows a terrorist organization to dictate its future. The current path of inaction only brings about Lebanon’s ruination at the hands of Hezbollah.”

The letter, led by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), was co-signed by Reps. Jefferson Shreve (R-IN), Don Bacon (R-NE), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Mark Messmer (R-IN), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Don Davis (D-NC) and Jared Golden (D-ME).