Lebanon Stresses Compliance With US Measures Against Hezbollahhttps://english.aawsat.com/home/article/1409731/lebanon-stresses-compliance-us-measures-against-hezbollah
Lebanon Stresses Compliance With US Measures Against Hezbollah
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh delivers a speech during the plenary session of the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Tokyo. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao
Lebanon Stresses Compliance With US Measures Against Hezbollah
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh delivers a speech during the plenary session of the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Tokyo. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao
The new US draft-law on Hezbollah is moving to an advanced stage involving media funders, economic and social institutions linked to the group, in what seems to be “an attempt to isolate the supporters of the party, which is facing increased financial pressure,” according to experts.
The new draft-law imposes sanctions on the supporters of “Bayt al-Mal” and “Jihad Al-Bina”, which is involved in construction works, as well as the party’s media institutions, and includes advertisers who broadcast ads through Hezbollah’s channels.
While the bill seeks to “increase pressure on banks dealing with the group,” Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh said on Thursday in response to a question about his willingness to enforce the sanctions: “We, as the central bank, issued circulars a while ago, and there aren’t new notices.” He explained and these circulars make Lebanon comply with the laws of countries that have currency or banks dealings with it.
He pointed out in a radio interview that those circulars were sufficient enough whatever the new sanctions, adding that there was nothing new on this subject.
The US House of Representatives unanimously voted to pass a bill calling for new and harsh sanctions against Hezbollah. The new sanctions aim to limit the party's ability to raise funds and recruit members, as well as increase pressure on the banks that deal with the group and the countries that support it, especially Iran. The sanctions also prohibit anyone who supports the party materially and in other means from entering the United States.
According to Dr. Sami Nader, Director of Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs (LISA), the new bill shows that the circle of sanctions is widening, since it started with Hezbollah’s officials, then reached the entities associated with the party, and today includes the supporters of the group’s institutions.
Pakistan, Lebanon Army Chiefs Meet as Middle East Mediation Drags Onhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5281961-pakistan-lebanon-army-chiefs-meet-middle-east-mediation-drags
This handout photograph taken and released on June 9, 2026 by Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) shows Pakistan's Army Chief and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir (R) speaking with General Rodolphe Haykal, Commander-in-Chief of the Lebanese Armed Forces during their meeting in Rawalpindi. (Photo by Handout / Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) / AFP)
Pakistan, Lebanon Army Chiefs Meet as Middle East Mediation Drags On
This handout photograph taken and released on June 9, 2026 by Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) shows Pakistan's Army Chief and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir (R) speaking with General Rodolphe Haykal, Commander-in-Chief of the Lebanese Armed Forces during their meeting in Rawalpindi. (Photo by Handout / Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) / AFP)
The heads of the Pakistani and Lebanese armed forces agreed to boost cooperation on Tuesday as they met in Pakistan with peace talks over the Middle East war dragging on.
Pakistan has been mediating between the United States and Iran to end the months-long conflict, with Tehran insisting that any deal should include Lebanon, where Israel has been fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah, reported AFP.
Lebanese army chief Rodolphe Haykal left on Saturday to meet his powerful Pakistani counterpart Asim Munir, with a Lebanon-based source telling AFP the visit was linked to the broader peace talks.
The two military commanders discussed "matters of mutual interest, (the) evolving regional security environment, defense cooperation and prospects for enhancing bilateral military relations", a statement from the media wing of the Pakistani military said on Tuesday.
Munir "underscored (the) Pakistan Army's commitment to expanding defense collaboration with the Lebanese Armed Forces," it said, after Haykal received a guard of honor ahead of the meeting in the city of Rawalpindi.
Conflict in Lebanon has become a centerpiece of weeks of stop-start efforts to bring a formal end to the war.
Armed hostilities flared further during Haykal's visit, though both Iran and Israel indicated on Monday that they had halted the fighting.
US President Donald Trump, who has expressed frustration at the slow progress of peace talks, said on Tuesday that negotiators were in the "final throes" of reaching a deal.
Lebanon was drawn into the war when Hezbollah militants fired rockets at Israel on March 2 to avenge the US-Israeli killing of Iran's supreme leader.
Israel responded with an extensive campaign of airstrikes and a ground invasion that have killed nearly 3,600 people. Exchanges of fire with Hezbollah have not stopped despite an ongoing truce.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said a US-Iranian agreement to end the war was "about to be achieved" when fresh fighting between Iran and Israel erupted on Sunday.
Even after an April 17 ceasefire agreement began, the Israeli military announced a so-called Yellow Line inside Lebanese territory about a dozen kilometers from its northern border where its ground troops are fighting with Hezbollah, who have fired rockets at Israel.
Lebanon Caught between US, Iran in Reclaiming its Independent Decision-makinghttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5281930-lebanon-caught-between-us-iran-reclaiming-its-independent-decision-making
Lebanese army soldiers carry the coffin of captain Elie Khoury, who was killed on Saturday in an Israeli airstrike, during his funeral procession in Kfar Jarra, southern Lebanon, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP)
Lebanon Caught between US, Iran in Reclaiming its Independent Decision-making
Lebanese army soldiers carry the coffin of captain Elie Khoury, who was killed on Saturday in an Israeli airstrike, during his funeral procession in Kfar Jarra, southern Lebanon, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP)
Iran’s attack on Israel in retaliation to Israeli strikes on Sunday on Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, carried several messages.
It was seen as an attempt to reinforce its claim over Lebanon as a bargaining chip in its confrontation with the United States and Israel that it can use in the ongoing negotiations in Pakistan.
It remains to be seen if Iran has succeeded in seizing the initiative in this file and tie Lebanon’s stability to its own negotiations with the US, or if the attack deepened the Lebanese state’s drive to separate the Lebanese file from the Islamabad talks and further pursue the US-sponsored negotiations with Israel.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun openly slammed Iran last week for using Lebanon as a “bargaining chip” in its negotiations with the US and demanded that it cease interfering in its internal affairs. Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, has been adamant that Lebanon be included in the Pakistan negotiations, putting it at odds with the Lebanese state.
Head of the Saydet El Jabal Gathering, former MP Fares Souaid noted that since 1969, Lebanon has witnessed several conflicts between foreign powers over usurping the country’s independent decision-making and holding negotiations on its behalf with or without consulting it.
The Palestinian Liberation Organization tried to do so decades ago, then it was followed by the Syrian regime, under Hafez al-Assad, that imposed hegemony over Lebanon for several years and now, the country finds itself in the Iranian sphere of influence, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.
“The Lebanese state, represented by President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, has now succeeded in reclaiming the initiative for the first time since 1969,” Souaid added.
This has been achieved with evident US support after Washington realized the importance of separating the Lebanese file from Iran and preventing Tehran from negotiating in its name, he went on to say.
“Iran has been trying to claim that the Lebanese negotiations with Israel are a farce and that Lebanon will be unable to achieve its demands, or impose an Israeli withdrawal without it. Iran has been claiming that it alone will be able to achieve this [for Lebanon], but it will fail,” stressed Souaid.
This handout photograph taken and released on June 9, 2026 by Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) shows Pakistan's Army Chief and Field Marshal Asim Munir (R) speaking with General Rodolphe Haykal, Commander-in-Chief of the Lebanese Armed Forces during their meeting in Rawalpindi. (Handout / Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) / AFP)
The Iranian embassy in Beirut posted on its social media an image of two clasped hands, with one covered with the Lebanese flag and the other the Iranian one, and the statement “always with you” in Lebanese dialect.
The post sparked hundreds of comments in support and criticism from users about Iranian and Lebanese interests.
Souaid noted the “sharp division in Lebanon between one camp that wants the country to be a mere bargaining chip for Iran, and another that wants to consolidate the authority of the Lebanese state and its independent decision-making.”
“The state is committed to its independent decision-making, while Iran is trying to usurp it through sparking a war in Lebanon and exploit the Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs as if to say that it alone holds the keys to the solution,” he added.
“Iran will not succeed in reclaiming Lebanon’s decision-making or again impose its authority over the country,” he stressed.
Army commander in Pakistan
Amid the developments, Lebanese army commander Rodolphe Haykal was in Islamabad at the invitation of his Pakistani counterpart Asim Munir .
The military has not revealed details about the visit.
An informed source confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that he was visiting at his counterpart’s invitation and that the trip was coordinated with President Aoun.
Pakistan has expressed its readiness to offer assistance to the Lebanese army in terms of its deployment in the South after the Israeli withdrawal, it said, noting that Islamabad enjoys the trust of the Americans, Iranians and the Israelis given its role in the mediation efforts between the US and Iran.
Israeli Minister Ben-Gvir under Investigation in Italy over Gaza Flotillahttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5281929-israeli-minister-ben-gvir-under-investigation-italy-over-gaza-flotilla
Israel's far-right national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir (C) arrives at the site of a suspected shooting attack in the town of Tzur Yitzhak in central Israel close to the occupied West Bank on June 7, 2026. One person was killed and four others wounded in multiple suspected shooting attacks in Israel on June. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)
Israeli Minister Ben-Gvir under Investigation in Italy over Gaza Flotilla
Israel's far-right national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir (C) arrives at the site of a suspected shooting attack in the town of Tzur Yitzhak in central Israel close to the occupied West Bank on June 7, 2026. One person was killed and four others wounded in multiple suspected shooting attacks in Israel on June. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)
Italian prosecutors put Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir under investigation over the treatment of activists who were part of a Gaza flotilla last month, a judicial source said on Monday.
The source, who asked not to be named, confirmed earlier reports by Italian news agencies and said Ben-Gvir was being investigated on suspicion of torture and kidnapping of Italian citizens who were among the activists, Reuters said.
If the probe determines charges are warranted, prosecutors could lodge a formal request for trial.
In response to the Italian investigation, Ben-Gvir said in a statement: "I will not shy away from one investigation or another and will continue to stand proudly alongside our fighters."
Israel and Ben-Gvir have faced mounting international criticism after the minister in late May released a video showing detained Gaza activists kneeling with their hands bound after Israel intercepted the aid flotilla in international waters.
Organizers said the 430 activists detained by Israeli police included citizens of Italy and South Korea.
In a video Ben-Gvir posted on X, officers forced an activist to the ground after she chanted "Free, free Palestine".
The government of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the treatment of the activists "unacceptable" and summoned the Israeli ambassador for an explanation.
Italy subsequently asked the European Union to discuss sanctions against Ben-Gvir, while France has decided to ban Ben-Gvir from its territory.
Flotilla organizers say they aimed to break Israel's blockade of Gaza by delivering humanitarian assistance, something aid bodies say is still in short supply despite a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in place since October 2025 that includes guarantees of increased aid.
Israel says its naval blockade on Gaza is lawful.
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