US envoy visits Lebanon, says US ‘grateful’ to Israel for defeating Hezbollah

BEIRUT — US deputy special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus on Friday hailed what she called the military defeat of Hezbollah by Israel and called on Lebanon to ensure that the Iran-backed group remains defeated and excluded from the government.
“We are grateful to our ally Israel for defeating Hezbollah,” Ortagus said during a press conference in Beirut. “It is thanks to President [Joseph] Aoun and the prime minister-designate, Nawaf Salam, and everyone in this government who is committed to an end of corruption, who is committed to reforms, and who are committed to making sure that Hezbollah is not a part of this government in any form, and that Hezbollah remains disarmed and militarily defeated.”
Ortagus spoke to reporters in Beirut on Friday after meeting with President Joseph Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda.
“We have set clear red lines from the US that they [Hezbollah] won’t be able to terrorize the Lebanese people, and that includes by being part of the government,” she stressed at the press conference. “The end of Hezbollah’s reign of terror in Lebanon and around the world has started, and it’s over.”
On Iran’s support of Hezbollah, Ortagus said President Donald Trump is putting pressure on Tehran to prevent it from funding its “terror proxies” in the region and “inflict chaos and harm” in Lebanon and elsewhere in the region.
First such visit
Ortagus arrived in Beirut on Thursday night — her first foreign trip outside the United States — at the head of a high-level delegation as efforts to form a cabinet in Lebanon stalled over the number of Shiite ministers to be appointed.
The Shiite duo of Hezbollah and its main ally, Amal, have insisted that in the next cabinet they retain the