Lebanese PM meets Rubio, stresses need for IDF withdrawal, Hezbollah disarmament

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Monday pushed for the further implementation of a framework agreement with Israel during his meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington.

Tehran-backed Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the broader Middle East war in March this year by attacking Israel, which responded with massive airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says has killed more than 4,300 people, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Lebanon and Israel concluded a framework agreement in June under US auspices, providing for the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces and the disarmament of Hezbollah, but its implementation has stalled.

In a statement, Salam’s office said that in his meeting with Rubio, he “stressed the need to move to the stage of implementation of the tripartite framework and translation of the principles of reciprocity and phased implementation into practical steps and tangible results on the ground, leading to the restoration of Lebanon’s full sovereignty, the achievement of a complete Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory, and the confinement of weapons to the state throughout its territory.”

In a post on X, Rubio said he reaffirmed “strong US support as Lebanon implements the Trilateral Framework – the only path to a durable peace with Israel.”

“The United States stands with a sovereign Lebanon, free from Hezbollah and Iranian influence,” he added.

The agreement also involves the deployment of the Lebanese army to the south, starting in test areas known as “pilot zones.”

Earlier this month, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa visited one of the pilot zones that recently came under Lebanese military control “to assess conditions on the ground and see firsthand the progress and challenges” there.

Salam “called for the establishment of a credible verification mechanism to monitor implementation and ensure compliance with the commitments” and stressed the importance of continued US support to the Lebanese military, tasked with the difficult mission of disarming Hezbollah.

The terror group refuses to lay down its weapons, and Israel still carries out strikes against it and occupies a swath of south Lebanon as a buffer zone.

IDF completes large-scale operation to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure

Meanwhile, the Israeli military on Monday said it completed a large-scale operation to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure in the southern Lebanon town of Mansouri.

Mansouri is located within the military’s southern Lebanon buffer zone, and residents were instructed to evacuate the area nearly two months ago.

In recent weeks, troops of the 55th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade led an operation in Mansouri with the elite Yahalom Combat Engineering Unit, during which the army said forces destroyed over 600 Hezbollah infrastructure sites, including eight tunnels.

The IDF said troops also located dozens of rocket launchers that had been left behind by Hezbollah in the security zone before the ceasefire took effect.

The “brigade-level operation” in Mansouri was aimed at preventing Hezbollah from “reestablishing itself in the security zone,” the military said.

The army also said that troops opened fire on two suspects who entered the IDF’s buffer zone in southern Lebanon earlier Monday.

Troops operating in southern Lebanon identified two suspects entering the security zone and then approaching the forces. The soldiers then fired on the suspects, “neutralizing” them, the military said.

Their conditions were not given. The IDF added that the incident was under further investigation.

Additionally, the IDF said it launched an interceptor missile Monday evening toward a “suspicious aerial target” identified over an area of southern Lebanon where troops were operating.

The circumstances of the incident are under further investigation, the military said.

No sirens sounded in any towns, as no threat was posed to Israeli civilians.