Barrack cuts south Lebanon visit short after protests over Hezbollah disarmament
US envoy Tom Barrack was forced to cut short his visit to South Lebanon on Wednesday as protests erupted against a US-driven plan to disarm Hezbollah.
Barrack, Washington’s special envoy to Syria and Lebanon and ambassador to Turkey, arrived by helicopter at the Francois Hajj military barracks in Marjaayoun, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported.
His scheduled stops in Khiam and Tyre were cancelled after locals staged demonstrations.
In Khiyam, protesters held Hezbollah flags and pictures of fighters killed in last year’s war with Israel. They spray-painted an Israeli flag on the ground and wrote slogans including “America is the greatest devil” and “Israel is absolute evil”.
Another message in English read: “Barrack is the animal”, referencing his controversial outburst at a Beirut press conference a day earlier in which he lashed out at reporters, telling them to “act civilised” and not “animalistic”.
“We accept all this destruction [by Israel] and everything that’s happened to us, just as long as he [Barrack] doesn’t come here,” one woman in Khiyam told local media.
The deal requires Hezbollah to disarm and withdraw north of the Litani River, while Israel is supposed to pull back from southern Lebanon.
The protests come as Washington pushes Lebanon to implement a disarmament plan drafted by Barrack and his delegation as part of the US-brokered ceasefire that ended last year’s war, and which had seen near-daily violations by Israel.
However, Israel has refused to withdraw from five border posts that its forces continue to occupy near the frontier, stopping many locals from returning to their homes and preventing the Lebanese army from continuing its deployment across the south.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri criticised the US delegation’s approach, saying it had prioritised disarming Hezbollah over securing Israeli concessions. Some villages are unrecognisable after being razed by the Israeli military.
“They brought nothing from Israel,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat, noting that Lebanon cannot accept measures that risk internal strife.
When asked about the upcoming September cabinet meeting to discuss the army’s disarmament plan, Berri replied: “Any issue that leads to internal discord is unacceptable.”
Beirut has urged Washington to pressure Israel to halt attacks, release prisoners, and begin withdrawing from occupied areas as part of the ceasefire deal.
