Pakistan, July 7 -- A US envoy, Thomas Barrack, met Lebanese officials in Beirut on Monday to discuss a plan aimed at fully disarming Hezbollah within four months. This comes as Israel escalated air strikes and launched a cross-border ground assault against the group.
Lebanese officials see Israel's recent military actions as an effort to increase pressure on Hezbollah. The group's leader, Naim Qassem, said in a recent speech that Hezbollah still needs its weapons to defend Lebanon from Israeli threats.
Hezbollah suffered heavy losses in last year's war with Israel, which destroyed much of its leadership and displaced tens of thousands of its supporters. Since then, the group has faced demands to give up its weapons but remains cautious a...