FILE PHOTO: An Israeli tank is positioned on the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, March 18, 2025 REUTERS/Avi Ohayon/File Photo

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT (Reuters) -Israel on Monday signalled it would scale back its military presence in southern Lebanon if the Lebanese armed forces took action to disarm Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah, while the Iran-backed group reiterated its refusal to lay down its weapons.

The announcement from the Israeli prime minister's office came a day after Benjamin Netanyahu met with U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, who has been heavily involved in a plan that would disarm Hezbollah and withdraw Israeli forces from Lebanon.

"If the Lebanese Armed Forces take the necessary steps to implement the disarmament of Hezbollah, Israel will engage in reciprocal measures, including a phased reduction" by the Israeli military, the Israeli prime minister's office said.

The statement did not explicitly say if Israeli forces would fully withdraw from the five positions they hold in Lebanon.

Senior Hezbollah official Mahmoud Komati on Monday rejected the Israeli proposal, telling Reuters that the group opposed "any direct cooperation with the Zionist enemy or collusion against Lebanon’s people and its resistance".

He said Lebanon had fulfilled its obligations under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, intended to end a war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, while Israel continued to defy the accord and seek "unacceptable new gains".

Komati urged the Lebanese government to uphold the national consensus, dismissing what he called U.S. and Israeli "tricks and games".

Meanwhile, in a recorded televised speech aired on Monday, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said the Lebanese government must ensure Israel complied with a November 27 ceasefire agreement before talks on a national defence strategy can take place, reaffirming his group's longstanding refusal to disarm.

"The weapon that brought us dignity, we will not abandon. The weapon that protects us from our enemy, we will not give up on," Qassem said. It was not clear when the speech was recorded.

U.S.-BACKED CEASEFIRE

The Israeli military has maintained a presence in southern Lebanon near the border since agreeing to the U.S.-backed ceasefire with Hezbollah in November.

Israel was to withdraw its forces within two months and Lebanon's armed forces were to take control of the country's south, territory that has long been a stronghold for Hezbollah.

This month, Lebanon's cabinet tasked the army with drawing up a plan to establish state control over arms by December.

The prime minister's office described the Lebanese cabinet's decision to back the move as a momentous decision. Israel stood "ready to support Lebanon in its efforts to disarm Hezbollah", the statement said without saying what support it could provide.

Qassem said the resistance's supporters, who he said make up more than half the population, stood ready to protect its arsenal when needed.

Hezbollah and its Shi'ite ally, the Amal movement, announced the postponement of a protest hours after planning it for Wednesday, saying the decision was taken to preserve "civil peace" and prevent attempts to shake the country's stability.

Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria, has said Israel should comply with the plan for Hezbollah disarmament, which would mean the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

The Israeli military continues to carry out periodic air strikes in Lebanon that it says targets Hezbollah militants and facilities used by the group to store weapons.

Palestinian factions in Lebanon surrendered some weapons to the armed forces last week as part of the disarmament plan.

(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell in Jerusalem, Laila Bassam and Jana Choukeir in Beirut; Editing by Peter Graff and Alison Williams)