US envoy urges Lebanon to resolve Hezbollah arms

US envoy urges Lebanon to resolve Hezbollah arms
2025-08-18T08:46:13+00:00

Shafaq News – Beirut (Updated at 15:53)

US Envoy Tom Barrack met separately, on Monday, with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.

After talks with President Aoun at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, Barrack asserted that Hezbollah’s disarmament would serve the interests of both Lebanon and its Shiite community, framing the move as enforcement of existing international resolutions rather than a new accord.

He stressed that Washington’s role is “advisory, not coercive,” underscoring that the weapons issue must ultimately be resolved by the Lebanese state. Barrack noted that Beirut had already taken an initial step and urged Israel to respond in kind.

The envoy also pressed for a nationwide reconstruction plan extending beyond the south, where the 2024 war with Israel killed 4,115 people and destroyed about 50,000 housing units nationally along with critical infrastructure, calling for cooperation “free of hostility,” while expressing confidence that the coming weeks would bring visible improvements in living conditions as part of what he described as an emerging roadmap for dialogue with regional players.

In turn, President Aoun told Barrack and Deputy US Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus that Lebanon expects all parties to uphold the joint declaration, urging stronger international support for the Lebanese army, along with accelerated steps to launch reconstruction in areas hit by Israeli attacks.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who also heads Hezbollah-aligned Amal Movement, said that Israel’s compliance with the US-brokered ceasefire, effective since November 27, 2024, and withdrawal from Lebanese territory are the real gateways to security and reconstruction, stressing the importance of reinforcing the army.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stressed the necessity of renewing the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)—a peacekeeping mission deployed since 1978 to monitor the southern border and support the army in maintaining state authority—arguing that it is essential for stability, alongside convening an internationally backed conference on reconstruction and economic recovery.

These exchanges came after Lebanon’s cabinet endorsed the general objectives of the US-backed disarmament initiative, which Hezbollah has denounced as “a scheme advancing foreign agendas over national sovereignty.” However, Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem reaffirmed that the group would not give up its weapons, insisting there can be “no Lebanese sovereignty without the resistance.”

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