U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio blasted the Hezbollah terrorist group that controls Southern Lebanon, condemning on Sunday “in the strongest terms Hezbollah’s reckless call to overthrow Lebanon’s democratically elected government.”
The comments were in response to remarks from Naim Qassem, the leader of Hezbollah, that “the people have the right to go down onto the streets and to bring down the government.”
Qassem was angered by Israeli strikes on Hezbollah targets and U.S. sanctions levied on the Al-Qard Al-Hassan financial institution, which is tied to Hezbollah.
Those actions come amid an impending fourth round of direct talks between the Israeli and Lebanese governments, which include discussions about how to bring Hezbollah to heel and reinstate Lebanese sovereignty in the country’s south for the first time in decades, while Israel Defense Forces troops withdraw.
Despite a ceasefire in place since Apr. 17 between Israel and Lebanon, Hezbollah has continued to fire on Israeli troops positioned in the south of the country, leading to counterstrikes.
Hezbollah joined its patron, Iran, in the war against the United States and Israel shortly after its initiation in late February. Some 3,000 people have reportedly been killed in Lebanon, with thousands more displaced.
“This is a deliberate campaign to destabilize the country and maintain its power at the expense of the future of the Lebanese people,” Rubio said.
The Lebanese government “is working to deliver recovery, reconstruction, international assistance and a stable future for its citizens with the full support of the United States,” the secretary of state said. “Hezbollah, by contrast, is actively trying to drag Lebanon back into chaos and destruction.”
Washington has been brokering the talks between Jerusalem and Beirut, the next round of which is set for June 2 and 3, which Qassem is demanding the Lebanese government abandon.
Reports indicate that an end to the Israel-Hezbollah conflict would be rolled into a potentially emerging agreement between Washington and Tehran to cease hostilities, for which Qassem expressed support.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on Sunday that U.S. President Donald Trump, in a phone call on Saturday, “reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself against threats on every front, including Lebanon.”
Some analysts say that tying a cessation of hostilities with Hezbollah to a resolution to the Iran war will embolden Hezbollah and effectively kill the Lebanese government’s best opportunity to rein in the terrorist group and disarm it.
Rubio insisted that “Hezbollah’s threats of violence and overthrow will not be allowed to succeed. The era in which a terrorist group held an entire nation hostage is coming to an end.”
