A top Trump administration envoy to the Middle East was in Lebanon on Saturday amid U.S. pressure on the country to crack down on Hezbollah and as tensions with Israel flare despite a U.S.-brokered cease-fire.
Morgan Ortagus, President Trump’s deputy Middle East envoy, met with senior officials after strikes over the past two weeks threatened the truce that went into effect in November.
The Lebanese government has been trying to rebuild the country in the wake of the devastating war between Israel and Hezbollah in which about 4,000 people in Lebanon were killed and roughly one million displaced. Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group that had long been a dominant force in Lebanon, was severely weakened in the war, but still has significant influence.
On Saturday morning, Ms. Ortagus met with Lebanon’s new president, Joseph Aoun, to discuss issues including the situation in southern Lebanon, according to a statement from Mr. Aoun’s office. Under the cease-fire, the Lebanese military is supposed to take charge in the country’s south, where Hezbollah had long been deeply entrenched.
Last week, militants fired rockets at Israel, prompting Israeli forces to bombard the outskirts of Beirut, the capital, and southern Lebanon. Israel later struck the area south of Beirut — known as the Dahiya — in what it said was targeting a Hezbollah official, raising further fears that the truce could fall apart.
Hezbollah denied any connection to the rocket fire. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah has shown appetite for a return to full-scale war. The cease-fire has continued to hold, at least for now, despite the tensions.
Ms. Ortagus and Mr. Aoun also discussed ongoing financial overhauls by the new Lebanese government, according to the Lebanese statement. Lebanese officials hope the effort will help bring in increased foreign assistance — including from the United States — to rebuild the country.
The total damage and economic loss from the war is estimated to be $14 billion, and Lebanon needs $11 billion to rebuild, the World Bank said last month, making the conflict the country’s most destructive since its long civil war ended in 1990.
Experts say the amount of international aid is likely to depend on whether the Lebanese government can assert its control over the country, including by disarming Hezbollah. Before the war, the armed group was so powerful that it was generally considered a state within a state.
Aaron Boxerman is a Times reporter covering Israel and Gaza. He is based in Jerusalem. More about Aaron Boxerman
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