Tom Barrack, the special envoy of the US to Lebanon, said on Monday that his team would discuss a possible cease-fire agreement with Israel, after Beirut had approved a plan supported by the US for the Hezbollah-terrorist group to disarm.
Barrack, after a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, also said that Washington would look for an economic proposal for post -war reconstruction in the country, after months of shuttle diplomacy between the US and Lebanon. Hezbollah, who has officially designated the US as a foreign terrorist organization since 1997, remains the most powerful proxy of Iran in the region and is subject to extensive American sanctions.
Barrack is also ready to meet Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and speaker Nabih Berri, who often negotiates with Washington on behalf of Hezbollah.
“I think the Lebanese government contributes. They have taken the first step,” said Barrack, who is also the American ambassador in Turkey. “What we need now is that Israel must meet that equal handshake.”
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American ambassador in Turkey and special envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, during a press conference after his meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in the presidential palace, in Baabda, east of Beiroet, Lebanon, Monday, August 18, 1825. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Hezbollah pulled a reinforced pressure during President Donald Trump’s first term, when Washington brought the enforcement actions against his global financial networks, imposed new sanctions and designated a transnational criminal organization in 2018.
The administration has expanded these measures in the second term of Trump.
The Ministry of Finance has announced new sanctions against Hezbollah-linked financiers and front companies, including instructions in March and July aimed at oil-smuggling activities, senior officials and the financial arm of the group, al-Qard al-Hassan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also offered up to $ 10 million for information that disrupts Hezbollah’s financial networks and repeated that Hezbollah cannot participate in the Lebanon government.
De beslissing van Libanon vorige week ter ondersteuning van een plan om Hezbollah te vernietigen, maakte de door Iran gesteunde terroristische groep boos en zijn bondgenoten, die geloven dat het leger van Israël zich eerst zou moeten terugtrekken uit de vijf heuvels in het zuiden van Libanon dat het sinds het einde van zijn 14-maanden oorlog met Hezbollah met Hezbollah met Hezbollah met Hezbollah zou moeten stoppen met het Launching almost daily airways in the country. Naim Kassem, the Secretary General of Hezbollah, has sworn efforts to combat the group disarming and to sow the fear of bourgeois unrest in the country.
“This is our nation together. We live together in dignity and together we build up sovereignty – or Lebanon will not have any life if you are on the other side and try to confront and eliminate us,” said Kassem in a television speech last week, according to Reuters.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Right, meets US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, US Deputy Special Envoy to the Middle East, Morgan Ortagus, and Us Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa A. John’s, Presidential, in Easty, The Presidential, The Presidential, The Presidential, The Presidential, The Presidential, The Presidential, The Presidential, The Presidential, The Presidential, The Presidential, The Presidential, The Presidential, The Presidential, The Presidential, The Presidential, The Presidential, The Presidential, The Presidential, The Presidential, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency Press Office via AP)
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Salam, the Prime Minister of Lebanon, said that Qassem’s comments “bear a veiled threat of a civil war, and no one in Lebanon wants a civil war today, and the threat or hint is completely unacceptable.”
In the aftermath of 7 October 2023, attacks by Hamas terrorists, Hezbollah rocket attacks and artillery fire against Israel, which reacted with air strikes. About 14 months of cross-border fighting followed and Israel performed more and more precision attacks on Hezbollah commanders and leadership. Large-scale battles have not resumed since Israel and Hezbollah in November 2024 an American cease-fire agreement reached, although there have been violations.
The Israeli army has said that the almost daily air strikes in southern Lebanon are intended to weaken the Network of Hezbollah and to compensate the efforts of the terrorist group to reorganize and compensate Hermen bears.
Barrack warned Hezbollah that it “missed an opportunity” if it doesn’t stop the calls to disarm.
Amerikaanse plaatsvervangend speciale presidentiële gezant voor het Midden -Oosten Morgan Ortagus, woont de persconferentie van de Amerikaanse ambassadeur bij Turkije en speciale gezant naar Syrië Tom Barrack, na hun ontmoeting met de Libanese president Joseph Aoun in het presidentiële paleis, in Baabda, ten oosten van Beiroet, maandag, 18 augustus, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Aoun and Salam both want to disarm Hezbollah and other non-state armed groups, and have demanded Israel his attacks and withdraw from the country.
Aoun said he wants to increase the financing for Lebanon’s Cash-Strapped army to strengthen his capacity. He also wants to raise money from international donors to rebuild the country.
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The World Bank estimates that the war of Hezbollah and Israel cost $ 11.1 billion in compensation and economic losses at the end of 2024, because large parts of South and Eastern Libanon were damaged. The country has been confronted with a paralyzing economic crisis since 2019.
The Associated Press has contributed to this report.
