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US ‘unbelievably satisfied’ with Lebanon reply to proposal on disarming Hezbollah
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani stands next to US Envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack as he raises the American flag at US ambassador’s residency in Damascus, Syria, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Firas Makdesi
A US envoy said on Monday he was “unbelievably satisfied” with Lebanon’s reply to a US proposal on disarming Hezbollah, following meetings in Beirut held hours after Israel launched new air strikes and a cross-border incursion.
Envoy Thomas Barrack’s proposal, delivered to Lebanese officials during his last visit on June 19, would see Hezbollah fully disarmed within four months in exchange for Israel halting air strikes and withdrawing troops from posts in south Lebanon they still occupy following a war last year.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Lebanon’s president on Monday, Barrack said he had received a seven-page reply, although he gave no details of its contents.
“What the government gave us was something spectacular in a very short period of time,” Barrack said. “I’m unbelievably satisfied with the response.”
Barrack, a longtime advisor to US President Donald Trump who also serves as US ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria, said he believed “the Israelis do not want war with Lebanon.”
“Both countries are trying to give the same thing — the notion of a stand-down agreement, of the cessation of hostilities, and a road to peace,” he said.
Israel crushed the leadership of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in a bombing campaign last year, one of many fronts on which it has inflicted severe blows against Iran and its allies since the start of the war in Gaza in 2023.
Hezbollah has already relinquished some weapons and withdrawn from southern areas under a ceasefire agreed last year. Israel has kept troops at five posts in southern Lebanon and continued targeting Hezbollah fighters with air strikes, saying it wants the group to pose no threat to Israel.
Hezbollah has not publicly responded to the US disarmament proposal, but its leader said on Sunday the group needed to keep some weapons to defend Lebanon from Israel. Sources have told Reuters that the group is considering shrinking its arsenal, without disarming in full.
In the hours before Barrack’s visit, Israel carried out a wave of air strikes on Lebanon’s south and east as well as a cross-border ground assault on a Lebanese border village. The Israeli escalation was seen by Lebanese officials and diplomats as an attempt to ratchet up pressure on Hezbollah.
Western countries have long said changes in the region could provide a chance for Lebanon to strengthen state institutions that have remained weak for decades in the shadow of powerful sectarian groups.
Barrack said Hezbollah needed reassurance that it would still have a future in Lebanon as a major political party.
Regional changes provided an opportunity for Lebanon, he said, noting that Syria’s new government, which took power last year after the fall of Iranian ally Bashar al-Assad, was now opening dialogue with Israel.
“The dialogue has started between Syria and Israel, just as the dialogue needs to be reinvented by Lebanon,” he said. “If you don’t want change, it’s no problem. The rest of the region is moving at Mach speed, and you will be left behind.”
The post US ‘unbelievably satisfied’ with Lebanon reply to proposal on disarming Hezbollah first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Hosts Qatari Prime Minister After Israeli Attack in Doha
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
US President Donald Trump held dinner with the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday, days after US ally Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing US-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict. The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge.
Trump expressed annoyance about the strike in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sought to assure the Qataris that such attacks would not happen again.
Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani were joined by a top Trump adviser, US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
“Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended,” Qatar’s deputy chief of mission, Hamah Al-Muftah, said on X.
The White House confirmed the dinner had taken place but offered no details.
The session followed an hour-long meeting that al-Thani had at the White House on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A source briefed on the meeting said they discussed Qatar’s future as a mediator in the region and defense cooperation in the wake of the Israeli strikes against Hamas in Doha.
Trump said he was unhappy with Israel’s strike, which he described as a unilateral action that did not advance US or Israeli interests.
Washington counts Qatar as a strong Gulf ally. Qatar has been a main mediator in long-running negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and for a post-conflict plan for the territory.
Al-Thani blamed Israel on Tuesday for trying to sabotage chances for peace but said Qatar would not be deterred from its role as mediator.
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Trump Urges NATO Countries to Halt Russian Oil Purchases
US President Donald Trump gestures during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Aug. 26, 2025. Photo: Jonathan Ernst via Reuters Connect
i24 News – US President Donald Trump issued a letter to NATO nations on Saturday, impressing upon them to stop purchasing Russian oil and impose major sanctions on the regime of Vladimir Putin to end its war in Ukraine.
“I am ready to do major Sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA. As you know, NATO’S commitment to WIN has been far less than 100%, and the purchase of Russian Oil, by some, has been shocking! It greatly weakens your negotiating position, and bargaining power, over Russia,” the message read.
“Anyway, I am ready to ‘go’ when you are. Just say when? I believe that this, plus NATO, as a group, placing 50% to 100% TARIFFS ON CHINA, to be fully withdrawn after the WAR with Russia and Ukraine is ended, will also be of great help in ENDING this deadly, but RIDICULOUS, WAR. China has a strong control, and even grip, over Russia, and these powerful Tariffs will break that grip.”
Trump’s post comes after the recent flight of multiple Russian drones into Poland, widely perceived an escalatory move by Russia as it was entering the airspace of a NATO ally. Poland intercepted the drones, yet Trump played down the severity of the incident and Russia’s motives by saying it “could have been a mistake.”
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Netanyahu Says Getting Rid of Hamas Chiefs in Qatar Would Remove Main Obstacle to Gaza Deal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the US Independence Day reception, known as the annual “Fourth of July” celebration, hosted by Newsmax, in Jerusalem, Aug. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that getting rid of Hamas chiefs living in Qatar would remove the main obstacle to releasing all hostages and ending the war in Gaza.
Israel on Tuesday targeted the Hamas leadership in Doha.