Hezbollah refused to disarmament, and Israel continued to attack Lebanon, calling for it to abandon its weapons four months later.
A senior US envoy praised the Lebanese government’s response to the US proposal aimed at disarming Hezbollah amid continuing military presence within Israel’s continued domestic military presence.
Thomas Barrack, an adviser to US President Donald Trump, Torkier’s Washington ambassador and Syrian envoy, returned to Beirut on Monday after submitting US proposals during his June 19 visit.
The plan called for Hezbollah, a Shia Lebanese group, to be completely disarmed within four months in exchange for Israeli airstrikes and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces.
“What the government gave us was spectacular in a very short period,” Barrack told reporters on Monday after meeting Lebanon’s President Joseph Owun. “I’m incredibly pleased with the reaction.”
Barack confirmed that he had received a seven-page reply from the Lebanese side, but he did not provide any details about the content.
Barack said he believes both Lebanon and Israel are seeking a path to escalation. “The two countries are trying to give the same thing – the concept of a stand-down agreement, a halt of hostility, a path to peace.”
The statement remembers as tensions remain high as Israel continues to attack Lebanon despite agreeing to a November ceasefire.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah erupted in October 2023 after a Lebanese group attacked Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza. By September of the following year, Lebanese authorities said they had been caught up in a full-scale conflict, killing more than 4,000 people, including Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrara, and driving away nearly 1.4 million people.
The Lebanese president and prime minister both were set up earlier this year and have pledged to strengthen the state and the army, saying that Hezbollah, long considered Lebanon’s most powerful military force, should not be stronger than his government.
However, Israel continues to attack Lebanon, claiming that its operation is intended to prevent Hezbollah’s rearing. Lebanese health officials say that around 250 people have been killed and more than 600 have been injured in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire.
Hezbollah has not issued a formal response to the US proposal. However, its leader Naim Qassem said on Sunday that the group would not disarm while Israel continues its invasion.
“We are not asked to ease our stance or throw away our arms. [Israeli] Qassem told thousands of supporters during the Asura Memorial in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Barack acknowledged that it was necessary to ensure that Hezbollah could continue to operate as a political force within Lebanon.
However, no signs of escalation were on the ground. Hours before the barracks arrived, Israel fired airstrikes in southern and eastern Lebanon, carrying out ground invasions of border villages.
Lebanese officials and diplomats said the latest military action appears to be an attempt to increase pressure on Hezbollah ahead of diplomatic debate.
On Saturday, Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health reported that “an Israeli enemy drone attack on vehicles” killed one person and injured two others in the Saf al-Hawa area of Bint Jbeil, southern Lebanon.
Earlier that day, the ministry said Israel’s independent drone strike had injured one person in the town of Shebaa. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that the attack had been attacked at a village home. The village is located along the border between Lebanon’s Syria and Golan Heights under Israeli occupation.
The ministry said another Israeli drone strike targeted the Chakra town of Bint Jbeil, wounding two people, and on Thursday the Israeli attack killed at least one person and injured three people near Beirut, the Lebanese capital.
