U.S. special envoy Thomas Barrack said on Monday that he was "unbelievably satisfied" with the Lebanese government's reply to an American suggestion on how to disarm Hezbollah.
"What the government gave us was something spectacular in a very short period of time. I'm unbelievably satisfied with the response," Barrack told reporters in Beirut, after meeting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
Barrak had delivered the American suggestion last month during Israel's war with Iran. It referred to the removal of ballistic missiles and attack drones from the Iran-backed terror group in exchange for a complete IDF withdrawal from areas in South Lebanon. The proposal also aims to move on with some economic reforms to try get Lebanon out of its nearly 6-year economic crisis, the worst in its modern history. The economic meltdown is rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement by Lebanon's political class.
According to reports, Hezbollah had indicated it was prepared to relinquish some of its heavy weapons but insisted it would not give up its anti-tank missiles or light arms. The group was said to review its strategy as an armed resistance after the war with Israel and the fall of the Assad regime in Syria.
Barrack said Lebanon should change in the same way as Syria has following the fall in December of Syrian President Bashar Assad,who was replaced by a new leadership that is moving ahead with major economicreforms.
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: Google Play: https://bit.ly/4eJ37pE | Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/3ZL7iNv
Barrack said President Donald Trump and the U.S. are ready to help Lebanon change and "if you don't want change, it's no problem. The rest of the region is moving at high speed," he said.
He said Trump was supportive and respectful of the government in Beirut and that the 7-page document he was given by Aoun would be carefully studied in detail. The United States was not imposing its views on Lebanon, Barrack went on to say and dealing with Hezbollah is an internal Lebanese matter, but unlike the past, there is currently a chance for peace.
The latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict began a day after the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel and intensified in September, leaving the Iran-backed group badly bruised and much of its political and military leadership dead.
Since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire went into effect in November, Hezbollah has almost ended all its military presence along the border with Israel, which is insisting that the group disarms all over Lebanon. Aoun said Sunday that the number of Lebanese troops along the border with Israel will increase to 10,000, adding that only Lebanese soldiers and U.N. peacekeepers will be armed on the Lebanese side of the border.
On Sunday night, hours before Barrack arrived in Beirut, Israel's air force carried out strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, wounding nine people, according to state media. The Israeli army said the airstrikes hit Hezbollah's infrastructure, arms depots and missile launchers.
Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem reiterated the group's refusal to lay down its weapons before Israel withdraws from all of southern Lebanon and stops its airstrikes.