US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Thursday about the seizure of hundreds of kilograms of explosives, according to a State Department official. Lebanese security forces confiscated the material last week from a car.
Rubio urged Aoun to hold accountable the individuals who ordered, financed and directed the shipment. The US official stated that Rubio told the Lebanese leader that returning the explosives to Hezbollah should be out of the question.
Rubio also urged direct military-to-military communication between Lebanese and Israeli forces for deconfliction, the official added.
A Hezbollah lawmaker, Hassan Fadlallah, said earlier that the seized explosives belonged to his group. Fadlallah stated that Hezbollah had intended to use the material against Israeli troops occupying swathes of Lebanese territory seized in this year’s war.
A Hezbollah official and a Lebanese security source told reporters that the explosives were meant to be used in explosive drones targeting Israeli soldiers.
During the call, Aoun told Rubio that the Lebanese army and security forces were fully carrying out decisions to prevent armed displays, confiscate weapons and combat smuggling, according to the presidency. Aoun also asked Rubio to pressure Israel to halt attacks on southern Lebanese towns and villages.
The Lebanese government specifically banned Hezbollah’s military activities on March 2. The ban followed rocket launches at Israel by the movement to back up Tehran, which pulled Lebanon into the broader US-Israeli war on Iran that began on February 28.
Tehran subsequently launched its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states hosting US bases. US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon during the conflict have killed thousands and displaced millions.
Under a deal reached through US-brokered Israel-Lebanon talks, Beirut vowed to disarm Hezbollah. In return, Israeli troops would gradually withdraw from Lebanon. Hezbollah has refused to disarm as long as Israeli forces remain on Lebanese land, while Israel has continued striking southern Lebanon.
