Lebanon's Cabinet on Tuesday tasked the army with developing a plan to disarm Hezbollah by year-end, an unprecedented step since civil war factions gave up their weapons decades ago.

The thorny decision follows heavy U.S. pressure and comes as part of implementing a November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and militant group Hezbollah including two months of all-out war.

The Cabinet held a nearly six-hour session on Tuesday headed by President Joseph Aoun on disarming the group, which emerged badly weakened from the latest war, with its arsenal pummeled and its senior leadership decimated.