15-07-2025
Lebanon receives US response over Hezbollah disarmament as Israel bombs Beqaa Valley
Lebanese officials have received a response to their proposal to US special envoy Thomas Barrack over the disarmament of Hezbollah, as Israel launched air strikes on the Beqaa Valley on Tuesday morning.
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 Lebanese Parliament convened on Tuesday for a session to question the government over its performance since taking office this year.
'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 Prime Minister Nawaf Salam at the start of the session.
As that session began, Israel carried out a wave of attacks on the eastern Beqaa Valley against compounds allegedly used by Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force.
The Israeli military said fighter jets carried out 'numerous strikes' against alleged military compounds that were used for training and planning attacks against Israel. There were no immediate reports of fatalities.
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.
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 Beqaa 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.
