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3. Barrack and Ortagus to Bring Israeli Responses to Beirut on Tuesday

Lebanese official sources said that US envoy Tom Barrack and US official Morgan Ortagus will return to Beirut on Tuesday, bringing Israel’s response on withdrawals, the cessation of attacks and assassinations, and the release of prisoners, along with a US proposal on renewing UNIFIL’s mandate.

According to these sources, the Presidency and Government have not yet received any official Israeli reply through the Americans and are not concerned with information circulating in the media. The Lebanese position, they stressed, will be announced only after an official response is received and following consultations among Lebanese leaders, most notably Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri.

According to the same sources, the Lebanese Army is still drafting a plan to ensure that all weapons remain under state authority. The plan is expected to be presented to the Cabinet in September. Its implementation, however, will depend on a political decision—one guided by Lebanon’s national interest and by reciprocal steps from the other side that demonstrate a genuine commitment to resolving the current disputes between Lebanon and Israel.

Regarding the initial steps toward the handover of Palestinian weapons, recent developments in Burj al-Barajneh camp are seen as a positive move that could pave the way for further measures there and in other camps. For now, the process is limited to Fatah, but future progress on the broader issue of arms control in Lebanon will inevitably extend to Palestinian weapons inside the camps, making their eventual handover unavoidable—just as Palestinian weapons outside the camps have already been fully removed.

Official sources stressed that there can be no retreat from the principle of exclusive state control over arms. They affirmed that all attempts at obstruction will ultimately fail, since the alternative would be further catastrophes and wars—burdens Lebanon cannot endure, nor can those who persist in clinging to their weapons.