Lebanon army says soldiers loyal after US sanctions one over alleged Hezbollah links
Lebanon's military said Friday its soldiers were loyal to the institution after the U.S. announced sanctions that included an officer accused of sharing information with Hezbollah.
The sanctions came after the U.S. hosted three rounds of direct talks between Lebanon and Israel aimed at ending the war that began after Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2 and determining the future of relations between the two countries.
The sanctions include Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, three Hezbollah lawmakers and a former minister and two figures from the Hezbollah-allied Amal movement.
They also target army colonel Samir Hamadi, and Khattar Nasser Eldin, a general security officer, marking the first time that officers are sanctioned in Lebanon.
The U.S. accused them of "obstructing the peace process in Lebanon".
The army said that "all officers and members of the military institution are performing their national duties with utmost professionalism, responsibility, and discipline".
It emphasized that "the loyalty of military personnel is solely to the military institution and the nation", also saying it was not informed of the sanctions beforehand.
Washington said Hamadi, the army's intelligence head in Beirut's southern suburbs, and Nasser Eldin, the national security chief in the general security service, "shared important intelligence" with Hezbollah "during the ongoing conflict".
A general security statement affirmed its trust in its personnel, adding that if any "employee is found to have leaked any information outside the institution... they will be subject to fair legal and judicial accountability".
- 'Obstruct lasting peace' -
The sanctions come as Lebanon is forming a military delegation for security talks with Israel at the Pentagon on May 29, a step that was agreed in the latest round of direct talks earlier this month.
A fourth round of negotiations is planned for June.
Hezbollah is opposed to the talks and refuses to surrender its weapons as the government demands.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday they "will continue to take action against officials who have infiltrated the Lebanese government", insisting Hezbollah must be "disarmed".
Hezbollah called the sanctions "an attempt to intimidate the free Lebanese people in order to bolster the Zionist aggression against our country".
Hezbollah lawmakers said the sanctions "will have no practical effect", though the group faces internal pressure following two wars with Israel that caused widespread destruction and pushed Lebanon to negotiate with Israel.
Once a dominant political force, Hezbollah was weakened by a 2023-2024 war with Israel.
The latest war has killed more than 3,000 people and displaced more than a million.
"The sanctions are a continuation of the tightening of the noose around Hezbollah, an attempt to separate it from the state after it managed, over the past 20 years... to embed many elements" in it, military expert Riad Kahwaji told AFP.
"These sanctions show today that no party is immune, regardless of whether it is inside or outside state institutions."
Israel meanwhile continues to strike Lebanon despite a truce in place since April 17.
Israeli strikes killed at least 10 people on Friday, including six rescuers, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
Source: Agence France Presse
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