The US dispatched an envoy to Beirut after a wave of Israeli attacks on Lebanon in recent days, as Israel and Washington push the country to press ahead with disarming Hizbollah in the wake of last year’s war.
Israel has over the past week hit what it says are Hizbollah targets across southern and eastern Lebanon, including construction material and equipment. More than a dozen people have been killed, with a Lebanese security official saying most of the casualties were Hizbollah operatives.
The strikes came shortly before Washington’s envoy Morgan Ortagus travelled to Beirut to lobby officials over their plan to disarm the militant group, meeting with President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Nabih Berri, the powerful speaker of the house and a Hizbollah ally.