US envoy: Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon ‘next step’ as Beirut agrees to disarm Hezbollah

Hezbollah is refusing to give up its arms, but Barrack says he expects to see Israel fully withdraw from 5 strategic points it has held inside Lebanon since November ceasefire

BEIRUT, Lebanon – US envoy Tom Barrack on Monday called on Israel to honor commitments it made under a ceasefire that ended its war with Hezbollah, after the Lebanese government launched a process to disarm the terrorist organization.

Under the November truce agreement, weapons in Lebanon were to be held only by the state, and Israel was to fully withdraw its troops from the country, although it has kept forces at five border points it deems strategic.

However, Hezbollah is refusing to disarm. Last week, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem threatened the Lebanese government over its efforts to disarm his Iran-linked terror group, claiming that there would be “no life in Lebanon” should its weapons be taken by force. He warned that Hezbollah would fight to keep its weapons, saying any forcible seizure would lead to internal unrest, undermining the country’s national security.

“I think the Lebanese government has done their part. They’ve taken the first step. Now what we need is Israel to comply,” Barrack said following a meeting in Beirut with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.

Asked by reporters about whether he expected to see Israel fully withdraw from Lebanese territory, Barrack said that “that’s exactly the next step” needed.

To the US diplomat, “the next step is we need participation on the part of Israel, and we need an economic plan for prosperity, restoration and renovation” in Lebanon, which has been weighed down by dire political and economic crises in recent years.

Barrack said Washington was “in the process of now discussing with Israel what their position is,” adding that “in the next few weeks you’re going to see progress on all sides.”

“It means a better life for the people… and at least the beginning of a roadway to a different kind of dialogue” in the region, he said.

There was no immediate response from Jerusalem.

The US diplomat’s visit comes less than two weeks after Lebanon’s cabinet tasked the army with developing a plan to disarm Iran-backed Hezbollah by the end of the year — a step unprecedented since civil war factions gave up their weapons decades ago.

A second cabinet meeting on August 7 tackled a US proposal that includes a timetable for Hezbollah’s disarmament, with Washington pressing Lebanon to take action on the matter.

The cabinet endorsed the introduction of the US text, which lists 11 objectives, including “ensuring the sustainability” of the November ceasefire agreement with Israel, and “the gradual end of the armed presence of all non-governmental entities, including Hezbollah, in all Lebanese territory.”

Israel routinely carries out airstrikes in Lebanon saying that it is targeting ceasefire violations, and has signaled it would not hesitate to launch destructive military operations if Beirut failed to disarm Hezbollah.

Barrack on Monday stressed that “dealing with Hezbollah, as we’ve always said, is a Lebanese process.”

Israel and Hezbollah engaged in hostilities for over a year after the Lebanese terror group began firing at Israel, unprovoked, in solidarity with its ally Hamas and its massacre in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

The rocket fire displaced some 60,000 residents of northern Israel. In a bid to ensure their safe return, Israel stepped up operations in Lebanon in September, leading to two months of open warfare with Hezbollah in which the terror group’s leadership and arsenal were decimated.