Taif Agreement
1989 agreement that ended the Lebanese Civil War; required all militias to disarm but exempted Hezbollah as 'national resistance' against Israeli occupation — an exemption that shaped Lebanese politics for 36 years until revoked by cabinet on 3 March 2026
Last refreshed: 13 April 2026 · Appears in 2 active topics
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Timeline for Taif Agreement
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Iran Conflict 2026- What is the Taif Agreement?
- A 1989 accord that ended the 15-year Lebanese Civil War. It required all militias to disarm but granted Hezbollah an exemption as 'national resistance' against Israel.
- Why was Hezbollah exempt from disarmament under the Taif Agreement?
- The Taif Agreement classified Hezbollah as 'national resistance' rather than a militia, exempting it from the disarmament clause. Lebanon revoked this exemption in March 2026.
- Did Lebanon revoke Hezbollah's armed status?
- Yes. In March 2026, Lebanon's emergency cabinet formally banned all Hezbollah military activity, revoking the 36-year-old Taif exemption.
- When was the Taif Agreement signed?
- The agreement was signed on 22 October 1989 in Taif, Saudi Arabia, brokered by the Saudi government to end Lebanon's civil war.
Background
The Taif Agreement, signed in October 1989 in Taif, Saudi Arabia, ended the fifteen-year Lebanese Civil War by redistributing political power among Lebanon's sectarian communities and mandating the dissolution of all militias. Hezbollah was explicitly exempted from the disarmament requirement on the grounds that it constituted a "national resistance" against Israeli occupation, a carve-out that defined Lebanese politics for the next three decades.
The agreement's core tension surfaced in March 2026 when Lebanon's emergency cabinet formally revoked Hezbollah's armed exemption, ordering the group to disarm and arresting any IRGC-linked personnel found on Lebanese territory. President Joseph Aoun went further, calling for direct talks with Israel and signalling a break with the resistance axis that the Taif exemption had long legitimised.
The practical collapse of the exemption was confirmed when dozens of IRGC Quds Force officers fled Beirut, dissolving a four-decade Iranian presence that had operated under the political cover the Taif carve-out provided. Taif now stands as both the legal instrument that enabled Hezbollah's armed status and the framework within which Lebanon is dismantling it.
