File- US envoy Tom Barrack at Lebanon’s Baabda presidential palace
If Washington truly wants Hezbollah disarmed and peace between Lebanon and Israel, it must stop hesitating and seize President Aoun’s opening before the moment disappears.
By : Ya Libnan, Op.Ed
For months, U.S. envoy Tom Barrack has been urging Lebanon to do what many believed was politically impossible: weaken Hezbollah’s grip, restore the authority of the Lebanese state, and move toward peace with Israel.
Now that Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has signaled his readiness to negotiate directly with Israel, Washington and Jerusalem appear strangely hesitant.
That hesitation is a mistake.
Speaking during a meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, President Aoun made his position clear: “I expressed my readiness to negotiate, but so far we have not received an answer from the other side.” Lebanon was even preparing a delegation to Cyprus, which offered to help broker talks between the two countries.
If true peace is the objective, this is precisely the moment Tom Barrack should grab the ball and run with it.
Lebanon is not making this gesture in a moment of calm. It is doing so in the middle of war. Israel has expanded its strikes across Lebanon while Hezbollah continues launching attacks against Israeli forces after the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in U.S.–Israeli strikes. The region once again risks sliding into a wider and more destructive conflict.
In such moments, diplomacy becomes more important—not less.
Ignoring President Aoun’s opening risks sending the worst possible message to the Lebanese people: that moderation is ignored while militancy continues to dominate the agenda.
That would be a tragic misunderstanding of Lebanon.
Many Lebanese—across all sects—want exactly what Barrack has been advocating: a sovereign state, a strong national army, and an end to the destructive cycle of war with Israel. But weakening Hezbollah cannot happen through military pressure alone. It requires giving the Lebanese state a political path forward.
A credible peace process would do something bombs cannot: it would remove Hezbollah’s main justification for keeping its weapons. For decades the group has claimed that its arms are necessary to resist Israel. If Lebanon enters a genuine negotiation process toward peace, that argument collapses overnight.
In other words, peace talks could succeed where war has repeatedly failed.
Instead of skepticism, Washington should welcome Aoun’s initiative, support Cyprus or another neutral venue for talks, and encourage Israel to test Lebanon’s seriousness.
History rarely offers perfect opportunities for peace. More often, it offers brief openings that require courage and vision to seize. President Aoun has taken a political risk by signaling readiness to negotiate with Israel in the middle of war. If that gesture is ignored, the consequences will not only prolong this conflict but strengthen the very forces that have kept Lebanon trapped in endless cycles of violence.
Tom Barrack and the United States must now decide whether they truly want a sovereign Lebanon living in peace with its neighbors — or whether another missed opportunity will once again allow Hezbollah and Iran to dictate Lebanon’s future.
Peace is knocking at Lebanon’s door — the question is whether Washington and Jerusalem will open it before war slams it shut again.
