The embassy has announced that Maj. Gen. Michael Leeney will be the new top US military official monitoring the ceasefire in Lebanon. He will replace Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers, who previously held that post.
The embassy’s statement emphasized Maj. Gen. Leeney will work to support Lebanese sovereignty. It’s not clear if the timing of this replacement has anything to do with the thousands of violations of the ceasefire committed by Israel since it took effect in November.
The mention of sovereignty might suggest the US is opposed to the ongoing Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, though it has not specifically said so. Maj. Gen. Jeffers repeatedly praised Israel during the ceasefire and conspicuously never mentioned plain violations that were ongoing.
With Lebanon pressing for the US and France, the guarantors of the ceasefire, to do something about the constant violations, and Human Rights Watch last week criticizing indiscriminate Israeli attacks on civilians, the timing of the replacement will no doubt raise hope it signals a potential change from the US.
France, by contrast, has been criticizing some of the higher profile Israeli attacks, and its Foreign Ministry issued a statement today both condemning Israel’s attack on Beirut over the weekend, and calling for them to withdraw their troops from Lebanese territory.
Maj. Gen. Leeney was deployed into the Afghan War multiple times, most recently as the deputy commander of the 40th Infantry Division. He has more recently been the deputy commander for Army branch of CENTCOM, known as ARCENT.
Maj. Gen. Jeffers will reportedly remain in Lebanon as the head of Special Operations forces in the Levant, according to the embassy. They are responsible for US special operations forces in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Egypt.
AFAIK the "ceasfire" was over months ago and Israel never respected it.
Your comment is much more thoughtful and definitely better than mine. All I could come up with was "LOL."
Good luck as Hezbollah's manifesto has outlined its key objectives, which include destroying Israel, pledging allegiance to Iran's supreme leader, and establishing an Islamic government influenced by Iran's religious ideology.— So who is the good Major General going to talk to????
Hezbollah declared war on Israel a long time ago, and a war is not over until the last combatant is either dead or lays down their arms.
Two faces of the same coin…!
The more they are talking about cease fire and peace, the more they are readying for war. Israel never, ever respects any cease fire anyway.
The number one destination for Iranians and Lebanese leaving for good is to the USA.
The US has the largest populations of Iranians outside of Iran.
The U.S. has the second-largest Lebanese diaspora, with over two million residents of Lebanese descent. The population of Lebanon is not even 6 million.
They come with a post secondary education, which is an asset to the US and a brain drain for Iran and Lebanon.