The Lebanese army is deploying in the south, where Israeli forces are still present in about a dozen towns and villages [Ramiz Dallah/Anadolu via Getty]
A senior White House delegation will visit Lebanon this week to discuss Israel’s military presence in the south and a possible captive deal, as well as push for a speedy cabinet formation, media reports have said.
The delegation will be headed by deputy special envoy for Middle East peace, Morgan Ortagus, who reports said made an unannounced visit to Beirut last week, although The New Arab could not verify this.
Her visit will come as part of a regional tour, at the time Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington, where he discussed an array of Middle East issues with US President Donald Trump and other US officials, including the Lebanon ceasefire.
Ortagus replaced former envoy Amos Hochstein, the key mediator behind the 2022 Lebanon-Israel maritime deal and the November ceasefire agreement that ended Israel’s war with Iran-backed Hezbollah.
The war, which began as cross-border fighting in October 2023 and escalated into a full-blown conflict in September, killed thousands in Lebanon and uprooted over a million people.
Another extension?
After failing to withdraw by the initial 26 January deadline, Israeli forces are now expected to pull out of about a dozen areas they still occupy in southern Lebanon by 18 February, but there are concerns there could be another extension.
Israel may ask to extend the deadline to the beginning of March, the time it has set for its northern residents who left because of Hezbollah’s rocket attacks, to return home, Lebanon’s Asas Media website reported, citing a US diplomatic source as saying.
Tel Aviv is also reportedly seeking to stay in five strategic points that overlook southern Lebanon.
Ortagus and her team will discuss these matters and the deployment of Lebanese Armed Forces in the south with Lebanese government officials, who are pressing for Israel’s withdrawal without delay, calling on Washington and Paris to guarantee this happens.
The US leads a multinational committee monitoring the ceasefire deal, along with France, Israel, Lebanon, and the UN, but the panel has been accused by Lebanon of not doing enough to stop ongoing Israeli violations.
South of Litani ‘cleared of arms’
In line with the deal, Lebanon is expected to deploy up to 10,000 soldiers in the south but has said it needs more assistance to do this. Hezbollah – the Iran-backed Shia group which has come out battered from the war – is stipulated to leave the south, and Israel must pull out.
The region south of the Litani River – where UN peacekeepers operate alongside the Lebanese army – is now reportedly completely clear of Hezbollah weapon installations.
But Israel claims the Lebanese government is implementing the deal slowly, justifying its presence in some parts of the eastern side of south Lebanon as “necessary”.
Lebanese residents of the areas still occupied are adamant about returning, and on 26 January more than 20 were killed as they forced their way into their towns and villages, managing to liberate them, either fully or partially, with the Lebanese army.
The same is likely to happen on 18 February.
Ortagus could also present Lebanese officials with a proposal to swap Hezbollah fighters taken captive by Israel with Israeli-Russian national Elizabeth Tsurkov, arrested in July 2023 in Iraq, which prohibits the entry of Israelis, according to Asas.
A Hezbollah-free cabinet?
Ortagus and her team are further expected to discuss the Lebanese cabinet formation, which has stalled due to fighting among the country’s different sectarian parties over ministerial quotas.
Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam, the former head of the International Court of Justice, was nominated on 13 January to form the cabinet, days after Joseph Aoun was elected as president following a two-year vacuum.
After briefing Aoun on the ministerial lineup, Salam said Wednesday that he seeks to include in his cabinet only “the most qualified” for the job, and guarantee that “there is no chance for any party to obstruct” the government’s work.
Salam is expected to announce the cabinet “within the next 48 hours,” which will then draft a ministerial statement and go to parliament for a vote of confidence, local media have reported.
It is not yet clear if the cabinet will include any party members, or individuals who merely have political backing and connections.
The US has reportedly pressured Salam not to include Hezbollah at all in the cabinet. Hezbollah, severely weakened by the war with Israel, and its Shia Amal Movement ally, did not vote for Salam but has demanded key portfolios including the finance ministry.
This is believed to have created one of Salam’s biggest hurdles in forming the cabinet, and Trump’s administration had allegedly warned about this ministry being given to Amal.
Already reeling from its worst-ever financial crisis since 2019, Israel’s devastating war on Lebanon has added to the country’s huge economic losses, with reconstruction in southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and parts of the eastern Beqaa region – areas of Hezbollah dominance – expected to cost billions.
This could be used as a bargaining chip by the US to exert further pressure on Hezbollah, a designated terrorist organisation in Washington.
Countries, particularly the Gulf, have signalled they will help Lebanon recover if the new cabinet carries out deep-rooted economic and political reforms and stifles corruption.
