US ups pressure on Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah

US envoy Morgan Ortagus on Tuesday said that the Lebanese government must deliver on its pledge to disarm Hezbollah, raising pressure on authorities a day after the group reiterated its refusal to surrender its weapons.

Ortagus was speaking from Beirut after holding talks with Lebanese president Joseph Aoun as part of a US delegation, which also included US Syria envoy Tom Barrack.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam's cabinet earlier this month told the army to devise a plan to disarm the Iran-backed group by the end of the year, an unprecedented decision in the 35 years since the end of the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war.

"We were all greatly encouraged by the historic decision of the government a few weeks ago, but now it's not about words, now it's about action," Ortagus told reporters at the presidential palace.

The Lebanese army is due to present its plan to the government for discussion and approval by the end of August.

Israel has agreed to respond in kind and submit a proposal for its withdrawal from southern Lebanon and security guarantees on the border, Barrack said at the news conference.

Hezbollah-Israel standoff

Barrack travelled to the Lebanese capital from Israel, where on Sunday he held talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about winding down Israel's frequent airstrikes in Lebanon.

The day after the meeting, Netanyahu's office offered to gradually withdraw from Lebanon if Beirut follows through on its plan to disarm Hezbollah.

"Israel is willing to go step by step, it might be small steps, baby steps, but they're willing to go step-by-step with this government," Ortagus said.

"Every step that the Lebanese government takes, we will encourage the Israeli government to make the same step," she added.

Hezbollah has repeatedly refused to discuss surrendering its weapons unless Israel withdraws from Lebanon and ends its ongoing attacks.

In a speech on Monday, its leader Naim Qassem rejected Barrack's "step-by-step approach" and urged the government to stop following "US-Israeli dictates".

"There is no step for step … Let them implement the [ceasefire] agreement... then after that we will discuss the defence strategy," he said.

Gulf money for the south

Barrack downplayed fears that a confrontation could spark a civil war, saying that the Lebanese government is looking to persuade it to give up its weapons and laying out plans to develop an "economic zone" in southern Lebanon.

Qatar and Saudi Arabia are willing to finance economic development in the south of the country to create jobs for tens of thousands of Hezbollah members after they lay down their weapons, he said.

"We have 40,000 people that are being paid by Iran to fight. What are you going to do with them? Take their weapon and say ‘by the way, good luck planting olive trees’? It can’t happen. We have to help them," Barrack said.

"We, all of us, the Gulf, the US, the Lebanese are all going to act together to create an economic forum that is going to produce a livelihood," he added.