��������

BEIRUT: Lebanon will present a plan on Sunday aimed at persuading Hezbollah to disarm, with Israel expected to submit a corresponding framework for its military withdrawal, top US envoy Thomas Barrack said on Tuesday.
Speaking after talks with President Joseph Aoun in Beirut, Barrack said the Lebanese proposal would not involve military coercion but would focus on efforts to encourage Hezbollah to surrender its weapons — including addressing the economic impact on fighters funded by Iran.
“The Lebanese army and government are not talking about going to war. They are talking about how to convince Hezbollah to give up those arms,” Barrack said.
A move this month by the Lebanese cabinet to task the army with drawing up a plan to establish a state monopoly on arms has outraged heavily armed Hezbollah, which says such calls only serve Israel.
Israel signalled on Monday it would scale back its military presence in southern Lebanon if Lebanon’s armed forces took action to disarm the Iran-backed Shiite militant group.
Barrack, who met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, described that development as “historic.”
“What Israel has now said is: we don’t want to occupy Lebanon. We’re happy to withdraw from Lebanon, and we will meet those withdrawal expectations with our plan as soon as we see what is the plan to actually disarm Hezbollah,” he said.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, after meeting the US delegation, said Lebanon had embarked on an irreversible path to place all weapons under state control, with the army due to present a comprehensive plan by next week.
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem, in a recorded speech aired on Monday, criticized the government’s decision to disarm the group and urged officials to reverse it, saying pulling back “would be a virtue.”
While no formal proposals have been exchanged, Barrack said verbal commitments from both sides suggested a narrowing path toward implementation.
Economic consideration
Hezbollah was significantly weakened in last year’s war with Israel, which killed many of its top commanders and fighters. A US-brokered ceasefire ending the conflict obliges the Lebanese state to disarm all non-state armed groups.
Israel, meanwhile, has held on to positions inside Lebanon and its military has continued to carry out periodic air strikes it says target Hezbollah militants and weapons.
Qassem rejected a step-by-step framework under which an Israeli withdrawal and Hezbollah disarmament would proceed in parallel.
Qassem said Hezbollah would not discuss a national defense strategy until Israel fully implemented the ceasefire agreement signed on November 27.
“Let them implement the (ceasefire) agreement ... then after that we will discuss the defense strategy,” Qassem said.
Barrack stressed that any disarmament initiative must address the economic impact on tens of thousands of Hezbollah fighters and their families, many of whom rely on Iranian funding.
“If we’re asking a portion of the Lebanese community to give up their livelihood — because when we say disarm Hezbollah, we’re talking about 40,000 people being paid by Iran — you can’t just take their weapons and say, ‘Good luck, go plant olive trees’. We have to help them.”
He said Gulf states, including Qatar and ��������, were prepared to support Lebanon’s economy — particularly in the south, which is Hezbollah’s stronghold — as part of an initiative to provide alternatives to Hezbollah’s payroll system.
Barrack said discussions were under way to build an “economic forum” backed by the Gulf, the US, and Lebanese authorities that would offer sustainable livelihoods “not determined by whether Iran wants it or not.”

ROME: Catholic and Greek Orthodox priests and nuns will remain in Gaza City despite Israel’s plan for a military takeover, the religious communities said in a joint statement on Tuesday.
“At the time of this statement, evacuation orders were already in place for several neighborhoods in Gaza City. Reports of heavy bombardment continue to be received,” the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem said.
“We do not know exactly what will happen on the ground, not only for our community, but for the entire population,” they said.
Hundreds of displaced people have sheltered since the outbreak of the war in the Greek Orthodox compound of Saint Porphyrius and the Catholic Holy Family compound, including children and those with special needs.
Stray Israeli fire hit the Holy Family church in July, killing three and wounding 10 others, including the parish priest.
“Among those who have sought shelter within the walls of the compounds, many are weakened and malnourished due to the hardships of the last months,” the statement said.
“Leaving Gaza City and trying to flee to the south would be nothing less than a death sentence.
“For this reason, the clergy and nuns have decided to remain and continue to care for all those who will be in the compounds.”
There are some 645 Catholic and Orthodox Christians left in the Gaza Strip, including five priests and five nuns, the Latin Patriarchate told AFP on Tuesday.
Israel’s cabinet approved in early August a plan for the military to take over Gaza City, despite mounting pressure both at home and abroad to wrap up a war which has created a humanitarian crisis and devastated much of the territory.
The United Nations declared a famine in Gaza on Friday.
The war was sparked by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 62,744 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.