On Saturday, an envoy of the Trump administration in the Middle East took place in Lebanon on Saturday in the middle of American pressure on the country to repress Hezbollah and as tensions with Israel Flare despite a ceasefire with American franchise.
Morgan Ortagus, deputy envoy of President Trump of the Middle East, met senior officials after the strikes in the past two weeks threatened the truce which has entered into force in November.
The Lebanese government tried to rebuild the country following the devastating war between Israel and Hezbollah during which around 4,000 people in Lebanon were killed and around a million displaced people. Hezbollah, the militant group supported by Iran which had long been a dominant force in Lebanon, has been seriously weakened in war, but still has a significant influence.
On Saturday morning, Ms. Ortagus met the new president of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, to discuss questions including the situation in southern Lebanon, according to a statement from Mr. Aoun’s office. Under the ceasefire, the Lebanese army is supposed to take care of in the south of the country, where Hezbollah had long been deeply rooted.
Last week, activists pulled rockets over Israel, which prompted Israeli forces to bomb the periphery of Beirut, the capital and southern Lebanon. Israel then struck the area south of Beirut – known as Dahiya – in what he said targeted a Hezbollah official, which has feared other than the truce will disintegrate.
Hezbollah denied any link with rocket fire. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah showed appetite for a return to war on a large scale. The ceasefire has continued to hold, at least for the moment, despite the tensions.
Ortagus and Mr. Aoun also discussed the financial revisions underway by the new Lebanese government, according to the Lebanese declaration. Lebanese officials hope that the effort will help provide increased foreign assistance – including the United States – to rebuild the country.
The total damage and economic losses of the war is estimated at $ 14 billion, and Lebanon needs $ 11 billion to rebuild itself, said the World Bank last month, making the country’s most destructive conflict since its long civil war ended in 1990.
Experts say that the amount of international aid will probably depend on the question of whether the Lebanese government can affirm its control over the country, including by disarming Hezbollah. Before the war, the armed group was so powerful that it was generally considered to be a state within a state.
