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The U.S. envoy to Lebanon championed a response issued by Beirut on Monday to a proposal by Washington that detailed the complete disarmament of the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah in exchange for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from its southern region. 

Envoy Thomas Barrack told reporters he was ‘unbelievably satisfied’ with Beirut’s timely response to a June 19 proposal that called for the disarmament of Hezbollah within a four-month timeframe. 

‘What the government gave us was something spectacular in a very short period of time,’ Barrack said following a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who took the top job in January. ‘I’m unbelievably satisfied with the response.’

The news comes as negotiators are also working to end Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip after Jerusalem saw itself facing four fronts just last fall with a war on its southern border against Hamas, back-and-forth missile strikes with Iran as well as with the Houthis in Yemen, and a campaign that unfolded in Lebanon.

A truce was struck in Lebanon following a sophisticated pager bombing that targeted hundreds of Hezbollah members across the country in September. 

Hezbollah largely retreated from Lebanon’s southern region and has reportedly relinquished some arms.

But reporting by Reuters on Monday also suggested that Hezbollah may be unwilling to relinquish all its arms and the details of the U.S.-Lebanon agreement that would see the disarmament of the terrorist network remain unknown.

Israeli troops have remained in parts of southern Lebanon to counter what it argues is a continued threat posed by the terrorist network to Israeli communities that live on the northern border, and skirmishes have continued. 

Barrack, who also serves as U.S. ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria, said he believes that, ultimately, Lebanon and Israel share the same goal – peace.

‘The Israelis do not want war with Lebanon,’ he said. ‘Both countries are trying to give the same thing – the notion of a stand-down agreement, of the cessation of hostilities, and a road to peace.’

Barrack also suggested that the Trump administration may look to add Lebanon to the list of nations that have normalized ties with Israel under the Abraham Accords – a chief policy of Trump’s during his first administration and one which he has once again made a top priority. 

Fox News Digital could not confirm whether Beirut is yet interested in that level of diplomacy with its southern neighbor.

But Barrack also suggested that Syria has already begun ‘dialogue’ with Israel. 

‘The dialogue has started between Syria and Israel, just as the dialogue needs to be reinvented by Lebanon,’ he said. ‘If you don’t want change, it’s no problem. The rest of the region is moving at Mach speed and you will be left behind.’

The comments come one week after Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa’ar said Jerusalem ‘is interested in expanding the Abraham Accords circle of peace and normalization.

‘We have an interest in adding countries, such as Syria and Lebanon, our neighbors, to the circle of peace and normalization – while safeguarding Israel’s essential and security interests,’ he added, though much of the normalization efforts would depend on Israel ending its war in the Gaza Strip. 

Reuters contributed to this report. 

A Senate Republican believes that regime change is the best long-term ‘solution’ in Iran as a fragile ceasefire between the Islamic Republic and Israel continues to hold.

The truce between Israel and Iran came late last month, and so far has put a hold on the fighting that took place over the course of 12 days in the region, which began when the Jewish State struck Iranian targets on June 13. It culminated in a U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear sites with bunker-busters in an operation greenlit by President Donald Trump.

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and previously held a position as chair of the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, told Fox News Digital that he is cautiously optimistic that the truce will hold, but warned that Iran’s deep-seated aggression towards Israel could be the ceasefire’s undoing — unless a new regime took over.

‘I’m of the opinion that the longer-term solution in Iran is going to be regime change,’ Daines said. ‘Because until you have a regime that recognizes the legitimacy of the Jewish state of Israel and their right to exist, and believes that Israel should not be destroyed, I don’t think we’re going to bring the peace that we need, that we all aspire to see between Iran, Israel and, frankly, in the Middle East.’

Daines’ sentiment comes ahead of an expected meeting between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday at the White House. 

There is a bipartisan push between Reps. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., to further arm Israel with B-2 bombers and bunker-busting bombs, but most lawmakers, including Daines, don’t believe that the U.S. should get involved in toppling the current regime and installing a new one.

The U.S. was involved in regime change in the country in the 1950s, when then-Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh was removed and the door was opened for Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to take control of Iran. In 1979, the Islamic Revolution took place, which removed Pahlavi from power and saw the birth of the current regime.

Daines argued that any change must come from within, because ‘otherwise, it’s just a matter of time before that regime would lose its legitimacy.’

‘Regime change is risky because you may end up with something worse than what you have,’ Daines said. ‘Now in this case, the bar is set awfully low in Iran, but you could get an equivalent type of philosophy, or maybe something a little better.’

‘I think we need to have a regime that recognizes that Iran and their long-term prosperity will be tied to growing closer to the West and being an ally of the West and not being an ally of China, Russia, North Korea,’ he continued.

‘A ceasefire is not the end. It’s a means. A ceasefire just says, ‘OK, we’re still at war, but we’re not going to shoot for a while.’ That’s what a ceasefire is,’ Daines said. ‘A lasting peace will be when the Iranian leadership recognizes the legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish state.’

‘Until that happens, I think Iran will remain a threat, particularly if the regime, whether it’s the current regime or a regime that changed that has a similar ideology as the current regime, that Israel must be destroyed,’ he continued. ‘That is not a peaceful outcome. That’s just delaying what could be a future development of nuclear capabilities and some kind of a first strike by Iran, either against Israel or against the United States.’

Democrats are assembling a new policy brain trust called Project 2029, an effort aimed at shaping the party’s long-term vision and regaining electoral strength.

But at a time when there’s widespread agreement that Democrats need fresh ideas and new voices, the inclusion of longtime party insiders — especially former President Joe Biden’s national security advisor Jake Sullivan — is raising eyebrows across the political spectrum.

‘It’s really disappointing to see the lack of self-awareness on Jake’s part,’ said Brett Bruen, former director of global engagement in the Obama White House. ‘Having Jake involved, let alone leading this, will only lead to stupid, superficial changes.’

‘These Democratic leaders need to take a long look in the mirror and understand they played a big part in bringing this situation about — and exit stage left.’

Modeled in name and structure after the Heritage Foundation’s conservative Project 2025, Project 2029 brings together high-profile Democratic veterans to outline a policy road map. After a decade of standing more against President Donald Trump than for anything else, the group is dedicated to helping Democrats define the policies that can win the 2028 election.

The initiative, first reported by The New York Times, is led by longtime Democratic strategist Andrei Cherny and a cast of familiar faces — including Sullivan, Neera Tanden, Biden’s domestic policy advisor; Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America; Justin Wolfers, University of Michigan economist; Jim Kessler, co-founder of Third Way; and Felicia Wong , former president of the Roosevelt Institute. 

But Sullivan’s role has drawn particular criticism from both Republicans and progressives. 

Sullivan was Biden’s top advisor during the chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, which resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. service members. He reportedly offered to resign at the time once the evacuation didn’t go as planned. 

He’s also drawn fire for the Biden administration’s failure to help Israel and Hamas reach a lasting ceasefire, and for its Ukraine policy — which, as one European diplomat told Fox News Digital, seemed aimed at letting Ukraine ‘lose slowly.’​​

‘Why isn’t Jake Sullivan working at Chipotle?’ quipped Steven Moore, founder of the Ukraine Freedom Project, on a podcast in 2024. 

‘Jake in his position both as national security advisor and in Biden world is one of the last people on earth that should be involved in a reset for the Democratic Party,’ said Bruen.

Sullivan did not reply to a request for comment by Fox News Digital.

Zohran Momdani’s stunning upset in New York City’s mayoral primary over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo has reignited a debate over whether Democrats on a national level need to start taking progressivism seriously.

‘The people responsible for driving the Democratic Party into a ditch are now asking for the keys again,’ said Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of progressive group Our Revolution. ‘Leaders like Zohran Mamdani are showing what’s possible when you speak directly to working-class pain and stand up to entrenched power.’

Despite the criticism, some Democrats defend Sullivan’s role and believe he could help unify the party.

‘He’s a historic organizer of the diverse lanes of Democratic foreign policy, and he’s done a great job with it,’ said Joel Rubin, a former deputy assistant secretary of state and Democratic strategist. However, Rubin questioned how much real influence Project 2029 will have, especially with no clear 2028 front runner.

‘We’re going to have a wide-open primary,’ Rubin said. ‘Unlike Project 2025, where Republicans had a candidate-in-waiting in Trump, we have no standard-bearer. So Project 2029 is going to be one of many blueprints for what a Democratic administration should do.’

Some argue that figures like Sullivan are better suited to bridge the divide between establishment figures and progressives than any leftist leader. 

‘He’s part of the old guard, but the old guard isn’t that old. There’s a lot of young people,’ one Democratic insider said. ‘You’d be hard-pressed to find people in the progressive lane pulling in establishment folks, whereas the establishment lane is working to pull in progressives.’

Sullivan’s GOP critics also point to his role in promoting now-debunked allegations during the 2016 election.

After a report from Slate claimed Trump Tower maintained a secret server communicating with Russia’s Alfa Bank, Sullivan — then a senior advisor to Hillary Clinton — amplified the claim.

‘This could be the most direct link yet between Donald Trump and Moscow,’ Sullivan said in a statement at the time. ‘This secret hotline may be the key to unlocking the mystery of Trump’s ties to Russia.’

Republicans later accused him of spreading unverified information and misleading the public.

Attorney General Pam Bondi is facing scrutiny for remarks she made this year about Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking case after the Department of Justice and FBI brought their Epstein inquiry to an abrupt close over the weekend.

The White House was grilled by reporters Monday about Bondi’s remarks, which appeared to contradict a memo the DOJ and FBI released earlier in the day stating that their Epstein review was complete and that they had nothing further to share with the public about it.

Fox News’s Peter Doocy asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt about Bondi apparently confirming in February that a nonpublic list of Epstein’s sex-trafficking clients existed.

‘She was saying the entirety of all of the paperwork, all of the paper, in relation to Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes, that’s what the attorney general was referring to, and I’ll let her speak for that,’ Leavitt said.

The question was a reference to Fox News’s John Roberts asking Bondi during a television interview if the DOJ planned to release a ‘list of Epstein’s clients.’

‘It’s sitting on my desk right now to review,’ Bondi said at the time. ‘That’s been a directive by President Trump. I’m reviewing that.’

Asked for comment, a DOJ spokesperson pointed to Leavitt’s remarksand said the Trump administration has been more transparent than its predecessor.

‘We’ve delivered more transparency in 6 months than the Biden administration did in 4 years,’ the spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

The newly released DOJ and FBI memo quashed theories about a nonpublic Epstein list, which was promoted for years by a vocal faction of Trump supporters, including FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino before they joined the bureau. The list was said to include names of powerful figures who were sexual predators associated with Epstein.

‘This systematic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list,’’ the memo read.

Bondi first drew criticism in February after teasing the release of damaging evidence related to Epstein. The attorney general, however, failed to deliver any new information to the public and blamed the FBI’s New York field office for withholding ‘thousands of pages of documents’ from her.

At the time, the Trump administration invited a group of right-wing social media influencers to the White House and gave them binders of what appeared to be a first look at the highly anticipated Epstein-related material.

Widely circulated photos showed the White House visitors smiling with the binders, which were labeled ‘classified’ and the ‘Esptein Files: Phase 1.’  The Epstein information, later published online, was largely a compilation of public court documents.

Some of the same influencers took to X to express incredulity over the new memo and call for Bondi’s replacement.

‘I’m supposed to be on vacation, but it’s time to fire Pam Bondi,’ Liz Wheeler wrote.

Mike Cernovich wrote that ‘nobody can even understand’ why the FBI and DOJ put out the memo and that ‘everyone is p*****.’

Rogan O’Handley called the memo a ‘shameful chapter in our country’s history.’

In response to a question from another reporter, Leavitt said nonpublic material was too explicit to release.

‘There was material they did not release because, frankly, it was incredibly graphic, and it contained child pornography, which is not something that’s appropriate for public consumption,’ Leavitt said.

The DOJ and FBI’s memo also reiterated what the FBI and DOJ inspector general found in 2023, that Epstein died by suicide.

Following the botched rollout of the files, Bondi raised eyebrows once again by claiming to reporters in May that there were ‘tens of thousands of videos of Epstein with children or child porn, and there are hundreds of victims.’

But public court filings and the newly released memo do not corroborate that statement. The memo stated, however, that ‘files relating to Epstein’ included ‘ten thousand downloaded videos and images of illegal child sex abuse material and other pornography.’

Epstein was indicted in 2019 for allegedly recruiting dozens of women and girls as young as 14 and engaging in sexual relations with them at his homes in Manhattan, Palm Beach, and elsewhere. He allegedly sexually abused some of them.

Authorities confirmed that Epstein hanged himself in his prison cell in New York City in 2019, before he could stand trial. His associate Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted of conspiring to sexually abuse minors and sentenced to 22 years in prison.