BEIRUT/JERUSALEM: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Thursday that he was determined to disarm Hezbollah, a step it has come under heavy US pressure to take, despite the group’s protests that doing so would serve Israeli goals.

Hezbollah's main ally, Lebanese speaker of parliament Nabih Berri, asked the U.S. to ensure that Israel halt its strikes as a first step, in order to fully implement the ceasefire agreed last year that ended months of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, according to four of the sources.

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Wednesday that calls for the Iran-aligned militant group's disarmament served only Israel, as the United States ramps up pressure for steps to remove its arsenal.