Washington Alleviates Proposed Sanctions Against Hezbollah

People walk outside Lebanon’s Central Bank in Beirut, Nov. 6, 2014. (REUTERS/Jamal Saidi)
People walk outside Lebanon’s Central Bank in Beirut, Nov. 6, 2014. (REUTERS/Jamal Saidi)
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Washington Alleviates Proposed Sanctions Against Hezbollah

People walk outside Lebanon’s Central Bank in Beirut, Nov. 6, 2014. (REUTERS/Jamal Saidi)
People walk outside Lebanon’s Central Bank in Beirut, Nov. 6, 2014. (REUTERS/Jamal Saidi)

Proposals to strengthen US sanctions against Hezbollah have been revised enough to relieve fears of damage to the Lebanese economy, according to well-informed banking and political sources.

This new step has signaled Washington’s serious response to concerns about Lebanon’s stability.

However, officials in the banking sector told Reuters that the Lebanese authorities should not underestimate the new US effort, as it was impossible to predict the position of US President Donald Trump towards Iran and its allies and that the draft law would not be voted on until Congress convenes again in the fall.

When reports emerged earlier this year on US plans to expand legislation on sanctions against Hezbollah, local media warned of dire consequences on Lebanon’s weak economy and sectarian divisions.

The Lebanese government, the central bank and private banks have put great pressure on politicians and banks in the United States this year in an attempt to persuade Washington to balance its tough anti-Hezbollah stance for the sake of the country’s stability.

Their main message has been that the last thing needed by the United States, which backs the Lebanese army in its fight against ISIS and other militants spilling over from Syria, is another failed state in the Middle East, according to Reuters.

The agency noted that those efforts have succeeded, as the draft law submitted to Congress in late July did not include the main elements that had caused fears among Lebanese politicians and financial leaders.

Financial sources told Reuters the proposed anti-Hezbollah legislation, when compared with earlier draft proposals, was more specific about who could be targeted, and was no longer seen as affecting the whole of Lebanon’s Shi’ite Muslim population.

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah has significant influence in Lebanon’s national unity government. US officials say Hezbollah is not only funded by Iran but by networks of Lebanese and international individuals and companies.

The US Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015 aimed to cut the group’s funding routes around the world, and in July Republican and Democratic US lawmakers proposed amendments to strengthen it.



28 Palestinians Including Children Killed in Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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28 Palestinians Including Children Killed in Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including four children, hospital officials said Saturday.

The children and two women were among at least 13 people who were killed in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli airstrikes pounded the area starting late Friday, officials in Al-Aqsa Martyr's Hospital said. Another four people were killed in strikes near a fuel station, and 15 others died in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital.

The Israeli military said in a statement that over the past 48 hours, troops struck approximately 250 targets in the Gaza Strip, including militants, booby-trapped structures, weapons storage facilities, anti-tank missile launch posts, sniper posts, tunnels and additional Hamas infrastructure sites. The military did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' request for comment on the civilian deaths.

The Hamas-led group killed some 1,200 people in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and abducted 251. They still hold 50 hostages, less than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s offensive has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.

US President Donald Trump has said that he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war. But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu there were no signs of a breakthrough.