Rubio presses Lebanon over a Hezbollah explosives shipment

Explosives seized on the Beirut–Bekaa highway

780 kg

Last week, Lebanese forces intercepted a truck carrying 780 kg of explosives on the highway between Beirut and the Bekaa Valley. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has promised an investigation to find the Hezbollah members linked to it.

On Thursday, Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah acknowledged the group's link to the shipment and said it was meant for operations against Israel. He demanded the cargo be returned and the people detained released.

In a call Thursday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged President Joseph Aoun to hold accountable those who ordered, financed and directed the shipment, warning that “returning explosives to [Hezbollah] should be out of the question.”

— US State Department official

Aoun told Rubio that Lebanese security forces are seizing illicit arms across the country, and asked him to press Israel to halt its attacks in southern Lebanon.