Latest news with #USIntervention
Asharq Al-Awsat
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Washington Links Israeli Withdrawal from Southern Lebanon to Hezbollah's Disarmament
Concerns are growing in Lebanon after the United States' reluctance to step in, either directly or through the International Monitoring Committee overseeing the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire agreement, and prevent Israel from further escalating its strikes in the country. On Thursday, the Israeli military struck several buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs that it said held underground facilities used by Hezbollah for drone production. The strikes, preceded by an Israeli warning to evacuate several buildings, came on the eve of Eid al-Adha. What aggravated the Lebanese concerns was Israel's prior notification to the United States of its plan to target these buildings, which were later found not to be used by Hezbollah for manufacturing drones. According to official Lebanese sources who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat on condition of anonymity, they said that Washington acknowledged that the buildings were not used by Hezbollah and directed blame at Tel Aviv citing that Israel's justifications were unfounded. But the US criticism of Tel Aviv is unlikely to deter the latter from carrying out further aggression against Lebanon, amid the failure of the monitoring committee to address Israel's violations. Washington blaming Israel will not change the reality on the ground as long as it enjoys a US cover that allows it to maintain pressure on Lebanon to set a timeline for Hezbollah's disarmament linked to its own withdrawal from the south. But Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam have reiterated commitment to limiting weapons to the state's control and urged the international community to pressure Israel into withdrawing from southern Lebanon. Ministerial sources said that President Aoun stands firm in his position and is in ongoing communication with Hezbollah leadership paving way for dialogue aimed at ensuring the state's exclusive control over arms once conditions are ripe for implementation. The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Hezbollah has no choice but to engage in serious dialogue, which is not intended as a stalling tactic while awaiting the outcome of US-Iranian negotiations on the nuclear file. They also assure that Lebanon is committed to the continued presence of the monitoring committee overseeing the implementation of the ceasefire. They point out that the upcoming dialogue with Hezbollah on securing the state's exclusive control over weapons is a cornerstone of Lebanon's national security strategy. The sources question the absence of the US engagement in Lebanon mainly regarding the military developments and Israel's escalation. They highlight that Lebanon is witnessing one of its darkest times compounded by Washington's dismissal of Morgan Ortagus, the deputy special envoy for the Middle East, from handling the Lebanese file. This move has left US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson, and the entire Lebanese state, in a state of uncertainty, as Washington is reportedly considering sending Ambassador Thomas Barrett, although no official date has been announced for his arrival in Beirut. Barrett is currently the US envoy to Türkiye and recently appointed by President Donald Trump as special envoy to Syria. On the other hand, political sources interpret the current absence of the US role, and Israel's unrestricted freedom to act against Hezbollah's remaining military capabilities, as a deliberate strategy it uses to safeguard its borders. It also links withdrawal from south Lebanon to a timeline for containing Hezbollah's weapons and limiting it to the state's control. The White House endorses the principle of linking Israel's withdrawal to Hezbollah's disarmament as 'it was crafted in the United States', according to MPs who frequently visit Washington. Lebanon has no choice but to adhere to that, viewing it as a mandatory passage to bring a political end to the Iranian interference in the region with the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, and to enter a new political phase for the Mediterranean country.
The Guardian
08-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Vance says US won't intervene in India-Pakistan conflict: ‘None of our business'
Donald Trump's vice-president JD Vance has said that the US will not intervene in the conflict between Pakistan and India, calling fighting between the two nuclear powers 'fundamentally none of our business'. The remarks came during an interview with Fox News, where Vance said that the US would seek to de-escalate the conflict but could force neither side to 'lay down their arms.' 'What we can do is try to encourage these folks to de-escalate a little bit, but we're not going to get involved in the middle of war that's fundamentally none of our business and has nothing to do with America's ability to control it,' Vance said during the interview. As America could force neither side to lay down their arms, he continued, the US would 'continue to pursue this thing through diplomatic channels'. 'Our hope and our expectation is that this is not going to spiral into a broader regional war or, God forbid, a nuclear conflict,' Vance said. 'Right now, we don't think that's going to happen.' The remarks match Donald Trump's 'America first' foreign policy of calling for a retreat from the US role as a mediator in foreign conflicts. Trump and Vance have both warned that the United States is willing to walk away from an attempt to broker a ceasefire in Russia's invasion of Ukraine if the two sides cannot be led to hold direct talks. India on Thursday evening said that it had thwarted missile and drone strikes launched by Pakistan in what would mark the latest round of tit-for-tat attacks between the two countries. Indian missile strikes on Pakistan in the early hours of Wednesday killed 31 people. India claimed that it was targeting 'terrorist infrastructure', while Pakistan denied that any terrorist groups had been operating in the areas hit by Indian missiles. As Vance signaled the US continued intent to take a diminished role in mediating conflicts abroad, secretary of state Marco Rubio spoke with leaders of both countries and called for an 'immediate de-escalation' in the fighting. The Iranian and Saudi foreign ministers also flew into Delhi on Thursday. Vance, who has played a significant role in foreign policy in the new Trump administration, traveled to India last month, where he said that India could retaliate against 'terrorists' in Pakistan but said the US did not want that to spiral into a broader regional conflict. 'Our hope here is that India responds to this terrorist attack in a way that doesn't lead to a broader regional conflict,' Vance said, referring to a recent Islamist militant attack in Kashmir. 'And we hope, frankly, that Pakistan, to the extent that they're responsible, cooperates with India to make sure that the terrorists sometimes operating in their territory are hunted down and dealt with.'
