U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus is expected to arrive in Beirut on Monday for talks with Lebanese officials on disarming Hezbollah, sources familiar with her visit said, as fears mount that Israel could renew its air campaign against the group.
The concerns follow several days of intensified Israeli strikes in southern and eastern Lebanon that have killed more than a dozen people, most of them Hezbollah members, according to Lebanese security officials.
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U.S. Deputy Special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus meets with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun
(Photo: Reuters)
Lebanese officials worry the escalation signals Israel intends to resume major air operations despite a November 2024 ceasefire that ended a yearlong conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed movement.
Ortagus, the White House’s deputy Middle East envoy, is expected to join a Wednesday meeting reviewing the Lebanese army’s efforts to clear Hezbollah weapons caches in the south, as required under the truce.
Last week, another U.S. envoy, Tom Barrack, warned that Hezbollah risked a new confrontation with Israel if Lebanese authorities failed to act swiftly to disarm the group. Hezbollah has so far refused to comply.
On Sunday, an Israeli strike killed a man identified by Israel as a Hezbollah weapons dealer, Ali al-Musawi, who Lebanese security sources said was the most senior member of the group killed since the ceasefire.
Also on Sunday, U.N. peacekeepers said they had “neutralized” an Israeli drone flying aggressively over their patrol in southern Lebanon. A source briefed on the incident said peacekeepers shot down the drone because it posed a threat. An Israeli tank then fired a warning shot near the U.N. troops.
Avichay AdraeeIsraeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said the drone was conducting “routine intelligence gathering” and did not threaten the peacekeepers. He said troops later threw a hand grenade toward the area but did not fire directly at U.N. forces.
The Israeli military maintains its strikes in Lebanon are aimed at stopping Hezbollah from rebuilding its military infrastructure in the south — a claim Hezbollah denies.