US Special Envoy Thomas Barrack started meetings with Lebanese officials after arriving in Beirut on Sunday evening. For the first stop of his visit, he was received by President Joseph Aoun at Baabda Palace, in the presence of Morgan Ortagus and a US delegation.
Talking from Baabda, Barrack said he “congratulated President Aoun on the significant steps taken,” referring to the Lebanese Government’s decision to disarm the Hezbollah resistance group.
“I know that many feel hopeful, and we too feel hopeful because of what happened at the cabinet session.”
He added that “after Lebanon’s first move, ball is now in Israel’s court.”
“Peace is coming soon. In the coming weeks, significant progress will be made and the beginning of a roadmap for dialogue with all neighbors will be created.”
“Hezbollah’s disarmament is in the interest of the Shiites, not against them.” He also stressed that reconstruction will take place “throughout Lebanon, not just in the South.”
Earlier this month, the Lebanese Government approved “objectives” of a US plan to disarm Hezbollah, yielding to US and Israeli pressures.
The cabinet session on August 7 followed another session on August 5, in which the Lebanese Government tasked the Lebanese Army with drafting a plan to confine all weapons to the State by the end of the year.
The Lebanese State has been subjected to unprecedented pressure by the United States, the first sponsor of the Zionist entity, to tackle the issue of disarming Hezbollah.
The Israeli enemy continues to bomb Lebanon, mainly the country’s south, almost daily and maintains occupation over five posts along the southern border, in violation of a ceasefire deal reached following a brutal 66-day Israeli war between September and November 2024.
