Hezbollah has rejected disarmament whereas Israel continues to assault Lebanon, after US requires it to surrender weapons in 4 months.
A senior United States envoy has praised the Lebanese authorities’s response to a US proposal aimed toward disarming Hezbollah amid Israel’s continued navy presence within the nation.
Thomas Barrack, an adviser to US President Donald Trump who serves as Washington’s ambassador to Turkiye and particular envoy for Syria, returned to Beirut on Monday after delivering the US proposal throughout a June 19 go to.
The plan referred to as for the Shia Lebanese group Hezbollah to totally disarm inside 4 months in trade for a halt to Israeli air strikes and the complete withdrawal of Israel’s navy from the 5 positions it continues to occupy in southern Lebanon.
“What the federal government gave us was one thing spectacular in a really brief time frame,” Barrack advised reporters on Monday after assembly Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. “I’m unbelievably glad with the response.”
Whereas Barrack confirmed that he had obtained a seven-page reply from the Lebanese facet, he provided no particulars on its contents.
Barrack mentioned that he believed each Lebanon and Israel have been searching for a path towards de-escalation. “Each international locations are attempting to provide the identical factor – the notion of a stand-down settlement, of the cessation of hostilities, and a highway to peace.”
The remarks come as tensions stay excessive as Israel continues to bombard Lebanon regardless of agreeing to a ceasefire in November.
The battle between Israel and Hezbollah erupted in October 2023 after the Lebanese group attacked Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza. It spiralled into full-scale battle by September the next yr, killing greater than 4,000 folks – together with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and different senior officers – and displacing almost 1.4 million folks, in line with Lebanese authorities.
Lebanon’s president and prime minister – each put in earlier this yr – have promised to strengthen the state and the military, and mentioned that Hezbollah, lengthy seen as probably the most highly effective navy drive in Lebanon, should not be extra highly effective than the federal government.
Nevertheless, Israel has continued to strike Lebanon, claiming its operations are aimed toward stopping Hezbollah from rearming. Lebanese well being officers say round 250 folks have been killed and greater than 600 wounded in Israeli assaults because the ceasefire.
Hezbollah has not issued a proper response to the US proposal. Nevertheless, its chief, Naim Qassem, mentioned on Sunday that the group wouldn’t disarm whereas Israel continued its aggression.
“We can’t be requested to melt our stance or lay down arms whereas [Israeli] aggression continues,” Qassem advised 1000’s of supporters throughout Ashura commemorations within the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Barrack acknowledged that Hezbollah would wish ensures that it might proceed working as a political drive inside Lebanon.
However indicators of de-escalation have been absent on the bottom. Simply hours earlier than Barrack’s arrival, Israel launched a wave of air strikes on southern and jap Lebanon and carried out a floor invasion right into a border village.
Lebanese officers and diplomats mentioned the most recent navy motion seemed to be an try to extend stress on Hezbollah forward of diplomatic discussions.
On Saturday, Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Well being reported that an “Israeli enemy drone assault on a automobile” within the Saf al-Hawa space of southern Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil killed one particular person and injured two others.
Earlier that day, the ministry mentioned a separate Israeli drone strike wounded one particular person within the city of Shebaa. Lebanon’s Nationwide Information Company reported the assault hit a home within the village, which lies alongside Lebanon’s border with Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The ministry mentioned one other Israeli drone strike focused the city of Chaqra in Bint Jbeil, wounding two folks, whereas on Thursday, an Israeli assault killed a minimum of one particular person and injured three close to the Lebanese capital, Beirut.