US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has urged Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to ensure explosives seized from Hezbollah are not returned to the group, while calling for direct military communication between Lebanon and Israel to reduce the risk of clashes.
In a call with Mr Aoun on Thursday, Mr Rubio discussed the confiscation of several hundred kilos of explosives from Hezbollah, a State Department official said.
He called for accountability for those who ordered, financed and directed the shipment, and said returning the explosives to Hezbollah should be out of the question.
Mr Rubio also criticised Lebanon’s 1955 Boycott Law, which the US official said was used for politicised prosecutions that deter efforts towards peace with Israel.
He "emphasised that the law is impractical and urged direct military-to-military communication between Lebanese and Israeli forces for deconfliction", the official said.
This would help to reduce miscalculation and to advance sequenced implementation of the Trilateral Framework, the official added.
Signed in June, the framework sets out a phased process for the Lebanese army to restore state authority and disarm non-state militias including Hezbollah, and for Israel to progressively withdraw from Lebanese territory