Lebanon receives US response over Hezbollah disarmament as 12 killed by Israeli attacks on Bekaa Valley

Lebanese parliament questions government over performance

US ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack arrives to meet Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in Beirut on July 7. Reuters

Lebanese officials have received a response to their proposal to US special envoy Thomas Barrack over the disarmament of Hezbollah, as at least 12 people were killed when Israel launched air strikes on the Bekaa Valley on Tuesday.

The response, described as “a collection of ideas”, was delivered via the US embassy in Beirut, a Lebanese source familiar with the talks confirmed. However, the source did not say whether the US had set a timeline for Hezbollah to disarm by the end of the year, as some Lebanese media reports have suggested.

The US embassy in Beirut declined to comment. "These are private diplomatic discussions, and we have no further details to offer at this time," it said.

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At least 12 people were killed when Israel bombed Wadi Faara in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley on Tuesday afternoon.

Lebanon’s health ministry said multiple air strikes were carried out, one of which hit a Syrian refugee camp. At least seven Syrian refugees were killed in that strike alone, which came as Israel launched a series of attacks on the region on Tuesday. Another 12 were injured in Tuesday's attacks.

The Lebanese Parliament convened on Tuesday for a session to question the government over its performance since taking office this year. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam was named as Lebanon's head of government in January, resigning as president of the International Court of Justice to take the role.

“Time is passing, and we ask you to establish a timeline in a cabinet session for state control and the restriction of arms to the state alone,” Georges Adwan, a member of the Lebanese Forces party, a Christian faction which opposes Hezbollah, told Mr Salam at the start of the session.

As that session began, Israel carried out a wave of attacks on the eastern Bekaa Valley against compounds allegedly used by Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force.

The Israeli military said fighter jets carried out “numerous strikes” against military compounds that were used for training and planning attacks against Israel. There were no immediate reports of fatalities.

The military statement said that since Israel had "eliminated" Radwan force commanders in September, "the unit has been operating to re-establish its capabilities".

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the attacks were a “clear message” to the Lebanese government and Hezbollah.

Mr Barrack was recently in Beirut to receive the response to a US proposal that aims to disarm Hezbollah and move on with economic reforms to get Lebanon out of its nearly six-year economic crisis.

The US plan ties reconstruction aid and a halt to Israeli army operations to Hezbollah’s full disarmament around the country.

Mr Barrack told The National at the weekend that Lebanon faced an existential threat if the issue of Hezbollah's weapons was not resolved soon. Mr Barrack is also the US Special Envoy for Syria and ambassador to Turkey.

“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion," he said. "Remember, we have an agreement … it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it."

Since the US-brokered ceasefire took hold in November, the armed group has pulled back almost all of its troops from the Israeli border, though Israel insists it must be disarmed nationwide.

Despite the truce, the Israeli army continues to bomb southern Lebanon almost daily and maintains control over five military posts along the southern border. It has also occasionally targeted Beirut's southern suburbs and the Bekaa Valley since the ceasefire.

Last week, it said its troops pressed further into south Lebanon on ground operations to dismantle alleged Hezbollah infrastructure, before retreating.

Hezbollah is strongly resistant to calls to disarm while Israel continues to occupy five points of Lebanese territory and bombs Lebanon daily.