US State Department: Army deployment in southern Lebanon insufficient without ending armed presence

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam outlined three priorities during a dinner hosted by Lebanon’s Ambassador to the United States, Nida Hamada Maawad, in his honor at the Lebanese Embassy in Washington. The priorities are: a clear timeline for Israeli withdrawal and the state’s monopoly on arms; a reliable verification mechanism to ensure compliance with the commitments of the trilateral framework; and mobilizing international support for reconstruction, infrastructure rehabilitation, restoring economic activity, and enabling displaced persons to return.

Salam stated that Lebanon relies on Washington to ensure the success of the trilateral framework, warning against merely managing the conflict instead of addressing its root causes. He added that the current configuration of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in southern Lebanon will not endure.

In response, the U.S. Department of State emphasized that disarming Hezbollah is a fundamental provision of the trilateral agreement between Lebanon, Israel, and the United States. It noted that this provision has not yet been fully implemented, while diplomatic efforts continue to push the agreement toward the implementation phase. The State Department stated that Lebanon must take additional steps to ensure the state’s monopoly on arms before demanding a new Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory, and affirmed that the deployment of the Lebanese Army in southern Lebanon is insufficient without ending Hezbollah’s armed presence.

The dinner honoring Salam and his wife, Ambassador Sahar Bousayri, was attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Youssef Raji, Minister of Finance Yassin Jaber, Minister of Energy and Water Joe Sadek, and a host of senior U.S. officials, diplomats, representatives of international institutions, and media figures.

U.S. attendees included U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz; National Security Council Deputy Assistants Michael Needham and Joseph Catler; Deputy Energy Secretary James Danly; Deputy Commerce Secretary Paul Dabbar; State Department Counselor Dan Holler; Under Secretary of State Hooker; Assistant Secretaries of State Bloom and Namdar; Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Burke and Greenstein; Assistant Secretary of Commerce Vogel; White House National Cyber Director Kernekros; Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers Vellian; and Assistant to the President Sebastian Gorka. Also present was Coleman, Head of Investments at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), along with Congressman Darrell Issa.

Also in attendance were Saudi Arabia’s Special Envoy to Lebanon, Prince Yazeed bin Mohammed bin Fahd Al Farhan; U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michael Weiss; and the ambassadors of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, the Sultanate of Oman, Kuwait, Iraq, and Syria to the United States. Also present were Abdulaziz Al-Mulla, Managing Director of the World Bank Group; Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund; and several prominent media figures.

At the outset of the dinner, Ambassador Hamada stated that Salam’s meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, World Bank Group President Ajay Banga, and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva underscore the importance of Lebanon’s partnership with the United States and international financial institutions.