Rubio to call Aoun over Hezbollah explosives, Moawad complaint

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will hold a phone call with President Joseph Aoun at 7:00 PM Thursday, media reports said.

The discussions will tackle the issues of the seized Hezbollah explosives and the judicial complaint that was filed against Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh Moawad, the reports added.

Al-Jadeed television’s correspondent in Washington said Rubio “will stress that seizing the explosives shipment is not enough, and that preventing the transfer of weapons and explosives outside state authority is required.”

The top U.S. diplomat will also emphasize “the need to expand the investigation into the explosives shipment to include the leaders, the officials who ordered its transfer, and its funding sources,” the correspondent added.

“The American side will insist on continuing Lebanese-Israeli negotiations and strengthening state authority, while establishing a clear timeline and a verification mechanism to ensure the implementation of mutual commitments,” Al-Jadeed said.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah had earlier in the day acknowledged that a truck full of explosives seized by Lebanese authorities last week belonged to the Iran-backed group and said the explosives were intended for use against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, not for domestic assassinations.

The truck, which was stopped at a checkpoint on the main highway linking Beirut with the eastern Bekaa Valley, was carrying 780 kilograms of explosives, including 250 kilograms of TNT and 250 kilograms of C-4 plastic explosives, according to judicial officials.

The incident has highlighted growing tensions between Hezbollah and the Lebanese government.

For years, Hezbollah had moved weapons freely in parts of Lebanon. That changed in March, when the Lebanese government declared all military activities by the Iran-backed group "illegal."

That decision came hours after Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, triggering a war that has killed nearly 4,000 people in Lebanon and resulted in Israeli forces occupying a large swath of southern Lebanon. The group fired the rockets two days after Israel and the United States launched a war on Iran, its main backer.

Hezbollah has refused to recognize the government decision outlawing its military wing, and Fadlallah's statement described it as "null and void."