Barrack said plan to disarm Hezbollah also ‘requires Israel’s cooperation’ to keep up its end of the deal.
US special envoy Tom Barrack has asked Israel to withdraw from the Lebanese territory after Beirut approved a plan to disarm the Hezbollah group by the end of the year, in exchange for an end to Israeli military attacks on its territory.
“There’s always a step-by-step approach, but I think the Lebanese government has done their part. They’ve taken the first step. Now what we need is Israel to comply with that equal handshake,” Barrack told reporters on Monday, in Lebanon’s capital of Beirut, after meeting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
The US-backed plan sets out a four-phase roadmap for the Hezbollah group to hand in their arsenal as Israel’s military halts ground, air and sea operations and withdraws troops from Lebanon’s south.
Lebanon’s cabinet approved the plan on August 7 despite Hezbollah’s outright refusal to disarm, raising fears that Israel could intensify attacks on Lebanon, even while it carries out near-daily violations of the November truce it signed with Hezbollah to end its war.
