US special envoy visits Lebanon to press for Hezbollah disarmament

Morgan Ortagus and President Joseph Aoun hold 'private' meeting as Washington presses for timetable for Hezbollah’s disarmament

Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun, right, speaks with US deputy special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus on Saturday. AFP

US deputy special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus on Saturday met Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, marking her second visit to Lebanon since taking office.

The Lebanese Presidency said in a post on X that talks between Ms Ortagus and Mr Aoun focused on the situation in south Lebanon and along the border with Syria, as well as the urgent need for financial and economic reforms to curb corruption.

The post also mentioned that a “private” meeting was held between Mr Aoun and Ms Ortagus.

Ms Ortagus did not address journalists after leaving the palace. She also met Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

A presidential source told The National that the Lebanese side emphasised "that there should be no delay in resolving the status of 13 disputed points" along the southern border with Israel.

Reforms were also part of the discussions. The international community has tied any financial assistance to Lebanon to the implementation of long-overdue reforms, including tackling corruption, restructuring the banking sector and improving governance.

The urgency for international support has only grown as the country’s economic crisis — ongoing since 2019 — has deepened further following the year-long war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese Iran-backed militant group.

"The Lebanese side confirmed that the reform process is a Lebanese need before being an international demand, and that the government has begun practical steps in this direction through appointing a governor for the Bank of Lebanon, approving a draft law to amend the banking secrecy law and beginning to study a project to reform the banking system," said the presidential source.

The source was keen to stress that the meeting was "good and characterised by a positive atmosphere".

US deputy special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus, left, meets Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut on Saturday. AFP

Ms Ortagus' visit comes amid escalating tension between Lebanon and Israel, despite a ceasefire agreement reached last November between Israel and Hezbollah.

She was expected to press Lebanese officials for a clear timetable for the disarmament of the group, and to push for the beginning of talks between Israel and Lebanon on the demarcation of their border, currently marked by the Blue Line drawn by the UN in 2000.

On Friday, at least three people were killed in an Israeli air strike on an apartment in Lebanon’s southern city of Sidon, far from the border. The strike killed Hamas official Hassan Farhat, as well as his son and daughter. Since the tenuous ceasefire was agreed between Israel and Hezbollah, the Israeli military has continued to bomb south Lebanon and struck Beirut's southern suburbs known as Dahieh twice.

Under the ceasefire terms, Hezbollah is required to withdraw its forces north of the Litani River and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south. Israel was supposed to withdraw across the Blue Line but has missed two deadlines and continues to hold five positions in southern Lebanon that it considers “strategic”.

Israel and Hezbollah interpret the ceasefire agreement differently. Israel says that terms of the truce demand that Hezbollah fully disarms, not only in southern Lebanon but across the entire country. Hezbollah maintains that the agreement only requires it to disarm south of the Litani River.

A senior Lebanese military source told The National last month that Israel was expected to continue its violations of the ceasefire agreement as part of a broader pressure campaign on Beirut.

Mr Berri had previously accused Israel of attempting to lure the country into normalising relations. He along other Lebanese officials, including the prime minister and foreign minister, say that Lebanon rejects any normalisation of relations with Israel.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said at a press conference in Paris on Thursday that Israel is interested in normalising relations with Lebanon in the future, although he acknowledged such a prospect “may seem premature from a Lebanese perspective”.

Last month, Israel and Lebanon agreed to start indirect talks to resolve longstanding disputes over the land border between the two countries.