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There's A Change Of Pace

Morgan Ortagus, Amos Hochstein's pro-Israel successor, visits Lebanon to ensure Hezbollah disarmament

Ortagus said that she wished to inspect around 30 sites together with the Lebanese Army which are suspected Hezbollah facilities.

Morgan Ortagus.
Photo: Mystery.user777 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

Morgan Ortagus, who replaced Amos Hochstein as the US envoy brokering the ceasefire between Israel, Lebanon, and Hezbollah, began her visit in Lebanon on Thursday, with the aim of ensuring inspection of suspected Hezbollah sites, according to Naharnet.

According to the pro-Hezbollah outlet Al-Akhbar, Ortagus together with the ceasefire committee was "launching an intensive work program with the Lebanese Army to search around 30 sites suspected of being resistance (Hezbollah) facilities north of the Litani River, especially in al-Zahrani and the Bekaa.”

The committee reportedly had information on “buildings, depots, valleys and forests in which Hezbollah is hiding ammunition and weapons, based on claims submitted by the Israeli enemy,” meaning the IDF and Israeli security and intelligence services.

In order to prevent a recurrence of senior and junior Lebanese Army officers providing the terrorist group with vital intelligence information, al-Akhbar reported that the Americans "want officer appointments in the army and security forces that suit their interpretation of the ceasefire agreement and who would have no ties to Hezbollah."

Al-Akhbar further said that "Ortagus will try to press Lebanon’s leaders to approve the appointment of army and security forces officers who enjoy U.S.-French consent, in order to halt the residents’ uprising that led to the liberation of parts of their towns and the facilitation of the army’s deployment," with some of these incidents leading to deadly clashes with the IDF.

The IDF has been slow to withdraw entirely from southern Lebanon due to complaints that the Lebanese Army, which is supposed to secure southern Lebanon and keep it free of any weapons and soldiers belonging to non-state militias such as Hezbollah, has moved too slowly and is too averse to clashing with Hezbollah despite the country's obligations.

Due to this, Israel has requested - and received - an extension of the deadline to withdraw from January 26 to February 18 from the Trump administration.

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