Al Arabiya sources: Washington will announce a solution to the “mechanism” issue within days

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It is expected that the US State Department will announce progress during the next week in the tripartite agreement with the governments of Lebanon and Israel, and according to special information from Al Arabiya and Al Hadath in the American capital, Secretary Marco Rubio directed the State Department work team to work on achieving two goals by the middle of this month. The first is “completing oversight mechanisms for the model areas in southern Lebanon” and the second goal is “setting a clear framework for the conference to assist Lebanon economically and financially.”

The announcement of reaching these two goals in the coming days will be a relaunch of work on the tripartite agreement, which witnessed much stagnation over the past weeks, during which the Lebanese state was not spared sharp criticism because of this.

The US State Department said in a statement after Rubio’s meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam two weeks ago, “The United States affirms its support for a sovereign Lebanon, but at the same time it says that Lebanon must become free from the influence of Hezbollah and Iran.” The US State Department described this influence as “malicious” and stressed that “one of the pillars of the framework agreement is the disarmament of Hezbollah, and this is what the Lebanese state has not done.”

It was clear that the US State Department placed responsibility for the next step on the Lebanese state and that the disarmament of Hezbollah would precede any Israeli withdrawal.

Similar information also came from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to confirm the American position, as a statement said that Republican Senator Risch, Chairman of the Committee, stressed the need for the Lebanese government to take urgent steps, especially with regard to the type of Hezbollah weapons in the model areas.

The torrent of direct and indirect criticism did not stop there. Indeed, one of Al Arabiya and Al Hadath’s sources and those familiar with the Lebanese Prime Minister’s meeting with the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee painted a very bad picture of the impression Salam left on the members of the committee. One of the speakers even told Al Arabiya and Al Hadath, “It would have been better if he had not come!”

During the past few days, Al Arabiya and Al Hadath spoke to additional sources to confirm the truth of what happened. A private source familiar with the content of the meetings said, “The Salam meetings with American officials were not that bad and were not bad at all, but rather they were positive and an opportunity for the Lebanese and American parties to talk in a constructive way about relaunching the paths of the tripartite agreement.” The private source for Al Arabiya and Al Hadath stressed, “The US Secretary of State’s promise to reach a result and agreement in establishing the Oversight and Verification Committee is an essential result of these constructive dialogues.”

There are basic obstacles that stand in the way of creating a control mechanism or “mechanism,” and they start with the fact that Israel has a veto on many countries, especially France, and that the United States has no intention of sending American soldiers to southern Lebanon, but Washington is trying to find a way out to seek help from the French in Lebanese areas far from the south and the area where the Israelis are deployed, and to seek the help of European forces that are very close to the Americans without being exposed to attacks by Hezbollah elements.

A US State Department official told Al Arabiya and Al Hadath yesterday, Saturday, “Any international presence must be closely linked to the goals specified in the framework agreement and not to permanent mediations in an ongoing situation without a solution.” He added, “The United States is ready to discuss measures that seriously support the disarmament of Hezbollah and consolidate the capabilities of the Lebanese army.”

The Lebanese government was also subjected to a widespread campaign of criticism because it "failed to prevent funding for Hezbollah."

Sources in Al-Arabiya and Al-Hadath in the American capital confirm that Hezbollah had a monthly budget of up to 100 million dollars until 2024, but Iran has refrained from sending money since the beginning of the American naval blockade against it.

These sources confirm that Hezbollah was able to collect at least forty million dollars a month during this year and that it relied on smuggling across the border with Syria, and falsifying transactions in the port of Beirut, in addition to its members benefiting from various items in the Lebanese state budget.

Many voices called on the American administration to put pressure on the Lebanese Prime Minister during his visit to Washington to carry out the reforms that he committed to with his government during the past months, and they are not much different from the demands of the Lebanese for these reforms, and they began to feel that they are promises without a horizon.

The US Treasury Department indicated some of these demands after Nawaf Salam’s meeting with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, but it did not explicitly refer to its demand from the Lebanese government, especially Finance Minister Yassin Jaber. It said in a statement that Bessent demanded steps to stop the Iranian and Hezbollah networks.

A source specific to Al-Arabiya and Al-Hadath and familiar with Salam’s meeting with American officials explained that “the Lebanese government explained to the Treasury Ministry that it is already taking practical steps to introduce reforms in the banking system and confront the networks of Hezbollah and Iran.” This source also pointed out “the necessity of stopping operations to combat drug networks, which have recently accelerated on Lebanese soil. He pointed out that these networks are an essential element in financing Hezbollah, and disrupting them has clear effectiveness, and that the Lebanese state has also informed the American government of many measures in the ports and the airport, and it is progressing in this direction.”

It is very possible to consider US President Donald Trump's decision to lift restrictions on air transport between Lebanon and the United States as an indication of the Lebanese government's success in convincing the Americans that it has taken good and sufficient measures at Beirut Airport to prevent smuggling and protect aircraft from any attack, or that it is at least working in this direction.

It is clear that the Lebanese state faces a real diplomatic and political challenge. On the one hand, it is exposed to demands based on firmness and speed in implementing firm, deep, and clear measures against Hezbollah and the influence of Iran. On the other hand, it wants to convince the parties, especially the United States, that it is following a wise policy that guarantees the implementation of the framework agreement without entering into security confrontations and confrontation with the Lebanese Shiites.

A source familiar with the work of the Lebanese state in Washington indicated that the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister fully understand the pressures, but they want to “manage change,” and one of the pillars of this political and security process is based on implementing the tripartite agreement and setting timetables that give hope to the Lebanese that their state, the United States, as well as Israel are committed to the security and economic provisions of this agreement, as it depends on time and that the Lebanese Shiites despair of Hezbollah and not the Lebanese state.