US envoy cancels visit to Southern Lebanon amid local protests

US envoy Thomas Barrack cancelled a planned visit to the southern Lebanese city of Tyre after local protests erupted in opposition to his presence.

Barrack had arrived by helicopter at a Lebanese Army base in the south of the country, Caliber.Az reports per Israeli media.

Residents of the nearby town of al-Hayyam, known supporters of Hezbollah, staged a demonstration against the visit. 

Protesters waved Hezbollah flags, displayed images of slain militants, and chanted slogans including “Death to Israel.”

In response to the unrest, Barrack called off his trips to both al-Hayyam and Tyre.

To recall, on August 26, Barrack said Lebanon has agreed to present a plan aimed at persuading Hezbollah to disarm, while Israel will submit a corresponding framework for its military withdrawal.

Speaking after talks with President Joseph Aoun, Barrack said the plan, to be presented on Sunday, “would not involve military coercion but would focus on efforts to encourage Hezbollah to surrender its weapons.”

Barrack added, “The Lebanese army and government are not talking about going to war. They are talking about how to convince Hezbollah to give up those arms.”

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam confirmed Lebanon is on an “irreversible path to place all weapons under state control,” with the army set to present a comprehensive plan next week.

Meanwhile, US envoy Morgan Ortagus stressed that Lebanese authorities must put the decision into “action” and that steps taken by Lebanon would be matched by Israel.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem rejected the initiative, calling it a “march in humiliation” and insisting that Israel must first comply with the ceasefire, warning that Lebanon’s sovereignty depends on ending Israeli “aggression.”

The group remains the main resistance to Israeli operations, though it was weakened in last year’s conflict, with senior leaders killed, thousands of fighters and civilians dead, and tens of thousands displaced.

By Aghakazim Guliyev