A top U.S. official told This Is Beirut that Lebanon’s government had not done enough to combat Hezbollah and stabilize the ongoing crisis.
“Despite years of American assistance and support to the Lebanese government and the Lebanese Armed Forces,” the official said, “we believe Lebanon’s authorities must take stronger action to assert state control and prevent Hezbollah from putting the country and its civilians at further risk.”
Describing the Lebanese government’s shortcomings, the official said, “the situation highlights a longstanding problem: armed Hezbollah units continue to operate independently inside Lebanon and from within civilian areas.”
He stressed that, “Hezbollah’s continued rocket attacks against Israel have driven the current escalation, and Israel has the right to defend its population from those threats.”
At the same time, the official said, “The safety of Lebanese civilians must remain the foremost concern as military activity expands in communities where Hezbollah operates,” noting that the United States is “closely monitoring Israel’s ongoing strikes against Hezbollah positions in Lebanon and the evacuation of civilians from areas in the south where the fighting is intensifying.”
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