A State Department official said overnight Thursday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun about the seizure of hundreds of kilograms of explosives belonging to Hezbollah. According to a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Rubio “urged Aoun and emphasized that returning the explosives to Hezbollah is something that should not be considered at all.”
1+The call came after Lebanese authorities this week seized a massive shipment of explosives weighing half a ton that was headed to the terror group. According to authorities, the materials seized in the vehicle were “250 kilograms of TNT explosives and 250 kilograms of the highly destructive C4.” Two passengers, including the son of a senior Hezbollah official, were arrested.
Even before the Rubio-Aoun call, a Hezbollah member of parliament confirmed that the explosives seized by Lebanese security forces last week belong to the organization, and that their cargo includes “means used to confront the Israeli occupation of our land in the south.” The parliamentarian also called for the release of those detained and the return of the vehicle and its contents.
1+Another Hezbollah source and a Lebanese security source told Reuters that the confiscated explosives “were intended for use in booby-trapped drones to attack Israeli forces.”