Lead:
The presidency of Lebanon took a defensive stance Thursday against mounting political pressure to remove General Rudolph Haikal, the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces. President Joseph Aoun's team characterized attacks on Haikal as indirect strikes against the president himself, while acknowledging severe operational constraints the military faces in southern Lebanon under Israeli pressure. The move underscores deepening tensions over the military's role in confronting Hezbollah's weapons arsenal and highlights rifts within Lebanon's political establishment over security strategy.
Details:
The Presidency Aoun stated it stands against those working to engineer what it described as "bloodshed in the street" — coded language signaling rejection of internal destabilization campaigns. Officials framed criticism of Haikal as political ammunition aimed at the president, not merely institutional dispute. According to Al-Akhbar, the presidency characterized the "political bullets" fired at the general as an opening salvo against Aoun's leadership itself.
Parties demanding Haikal's dismissal include figures aligned with Nabih Berri and Walid Jumblatt, as well as other influential political factions, Al-Akhbar reported. The pressure reflects disagreement over how the military should manage Hezbollah's weapons and its operational posture in a fractured security environment. The presidency did not minimize the difficulties: it acknowledged that military units operate under "extremely difficult conditions" across various regions, particularly in the south, owing to sustained Israeli military pressure.
The timing carries broader significance. Lebanon's parliament earlier this week approved emergency appropriations worth 150 million dollars, including 100 million for electricity, while simultaneously debating the national budget. Deputy Hassan Fadl Allah of the Loyalty to Resistance bloc warned that repeating failed financial policies risks triggering a "more dangerous" crisis than the current one, calling into question whether exceptional spending bypasses normal budgetary oversight. The military's operational credibility and the government's fiscal discipline have thus become linked political battlegrounds.
Watch For:
Whether political factions intensify calls for Haikal's removal or accept the presidency's boundary-setting; any Israeli military operations that strain the Lebanese Army further; upcoming U.S. envoy Michael Waltz's visit in early November to discuss alternatives to UNIFIL deployment post-mandate expiry, which may shift pressure on military leadership.