A Trump administration envoy to the Middle East urged Lebanon’s new leaders on Friday to ensure that Hezbollah does not participate in the government amid ongoing violence and a fragile cease-fire.
U.S. Deputy Envoy to the Middle East, Morgan Ortagus, stated at a news conference in Beirut following her meeting with Lebanon’s new president, Joseph Aoun, that Hezbollah had been “defeated” by Israel. She emphasized that the leadership in Lebanon is committed to preventing Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia, from being included in the government.
No immediate comments were provided by Lebanese officials regarding her statements. The new leadership in Lebanon faces the challenge of balancing relations with Hezbollah, which has historically been a dominant political force in the country but has suffered setbacks due to a prolonged conflict with Israel.
The U.S. has intensified its pressure on Lebanon’s leadership to diminish Hezbollah’s political influence. Ortagus, the first senior U.S. official to visit Lebanon since the Trump administration began, also noted that efforts are being made to pressure Iran to cease funding its proxies in the region, including Hezbollah.
Her comments followed a meeting with President Aoun, whose election by Lebanese lawmakers last month marked the end of a prolonged political deadlock. Aoun has appointed a new prime minister, Nawaf Salam, but a government has yet to be formed, as senior government positions in Lebanon are traditionally allocated among various sectarian communities under a longstanding power-sharing agreement.
The diplomatic pressure comes at a critical juncture for Lebanon. A 60-day cease-fire, which concluded the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in November, mandated the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon by now. However, Israeli forces have remained, resulting in the deaths of two dozen individuals as thousands attempted to return home near the border after the cease-fire expired last month. The Israeli military stated that it had fired “warning shots in order to eliminate threats.”
With the cease-fire now extended until February 18, many in Lebanon are concerned about the potential for a prolonged Israeli occupation of the southern region of the country. As the deadline for the cease-fire approaches, the Israeli military conducted a series of airstrikes deep within Lebanese territory, targeting Hezbollah military sites and accusing the group of violating cease-fire terms. Both parties have repeatedly accused each other of breaches of the agreement.
Lebanon’s state-run news agency reported that the attacks in southern and eastern Lebanon were among the most intense since the conclusion of the war in November, although there were no immediate reports of casualties.
Additionally, clashes continued along the Lebanese-Syrian border, where skirmishes broke out the previous day between Syrian forces and armed groups in Lebanon. Syria’s new rebel authorities indicated that they were working to curb cross-border smuggling networks, according to Syria’s state news agency, SANA.