Lebanese President Joseph Aoun received a phone call on Thursday from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during which they discussed the general situation in Lebanon and the region in light of recent developments. The call addressed the situation in southern Lebanon amid ongoing Israeli attacks. Aoun asked Rubio to pressure Israel to halt the attacks, commit to the framework agreement, cease bulldozing and land-clearing operations, and allow farmers to access their fields. Aoun stressed that the Lebanese Army and security forces are fully carrying out their duties in implementing decisions related to preventing armed presence, confiscating weapons and ammunition, and combating smuggling, noting that measures taken over the past few days fall within this framework. The president stressed that judicial authorities are following up on all files referred to them, underlining zero tolerance for perpetrators and the application of laws without favoritism. Rubio told Aoun that he should not return several hundred kilograms of explosives seized by Lebanese authorities from Hezbollah, a US official said. "He urged Aoun to hold accountable all those who ordered, financed, and directed the shipment, and underscored that returning explosives to Hezbollah should be out of the question," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity. A Hezbollah MP acknowledged on Thursday that a 500-kilogram shipment of explosives seized last week by Lebanese authorities belonged to the group, a rare admission by the Iran-backed party. "The vehicle and its cargo belong to the resistance" against Israel, lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said. He said Hezbollah also called for the immediate release of those arrested over the seizure. Fadlallah demanded the return of the shipment, seized on a road linking eastern Lebanon to Beirut, saying it constituted "capabilities" used by Hezbollah against Israel. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has said the state will no longer tolerate any possession of "illegal weapons". A judicial source told AFP the explosives were seized from a vehicle that was carrying 250 kilograms of TNT and 250 kilograms of the explosive C-4. Salam has said authorities will "identify all individuals involved in this criminal operation and those who ordered it". He said Lebanese people would be concerned by the seizure, especially since C-4 has previously been used in political assassinations in Lebanon. At the beginning of this decade Hezbollah was accused of carrying out several political killings. The group, which once dominated political life in Lebanon, has been weakened by two wars it waged against Israel since 2023.
