US Warned Bassil before Imposing Sanctions, Aoun Demands Evidence of Corruption

Head of Lebanon's FPM MP Gebran Bassil. (AP file photo)
Head of Lebanon's FPM MP Gebran Bassil. (AP file photo)
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US Warned Bassil before Imposing Sanctions, Aoun Demands Evidence of Corruption

Head of Lebanon's FPM MP Gebran Bassil. (AP file photo)
Head of Lebanon's FPM MP Gebran Bassil. (AP file photo)

The allegations offered by the United States in justifying the sanctions it imposed on Lebanon’s Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Gebran Bassil have raised questions that Washington was changing its sanctions policy.

The US had previously cited relations and cooperation with Hezbollah as the basis for slapping sanctions. Now, however, they seem to be focused on corruption.

A State Department official told Asharq Al-Awsat that his country will use all of its authority to sanction Lebanese leaders “who place their interests above those of the Lebanese people.”

Lebanese President Michel Aoun, meanwhile, demanded that American authorities provide evidence of the alleged corruption charges against his son-in-law and former minister, Bassil.

Asharq Al-Awsat learned that American authorities had warned Bassil in advance that he will soon be sanctioned.

The State Department official declined to comment on this.

He strongly denied that the sanctions are related to the stalled government formation process in Lebanon or the US presidential election.

This is about accountability, he stressed. “We are not targeting a certain group, party or sect, but we are focusing on corruption.”

Several Lebanese officials act as if they have the “luxury of time”, but this is not true, he went on to say. Now is the time to act and the Lebanese leaders must respond to the demands of the people and implement necessary reform immediately.

On whether more sanctions will be imposed on figures who are not affiliated with Hezbollah, the diplomat said that Washington does not disclose in advance the names of targeted officials.

Lebanese leaders must realize that they must work for the national interest to protect all segments of society from corruption and terrorism, he stressed. Washington will use all means at its disposal to hold Lebanese officials, who place their interests above those of the people, to account.

Aoun said Saturday that Lebanon would seek evidence and documents from the United States that led Washington to impose sanctions on Bassil on Friday.

He asked the country's caretaker foreign minister to obtain the evidence and documents that should be submitted to Lebanon's judiciary "to take the necessary legal measures,” said a statement.

On Friday, the US Treasury slapped sanctions on Bassil, singling him out for what it said was his role in corruption.

The FPM has a political alliance with Hezbollah and Bassil has defended the group as vital to the defense of Lebanon.

The Treasury Department said Bassil was at the "forefront of corruption in Lebanon" where successive governments have failed to reduce mounting sovereign debt or address failing infrastructure and the loss-making power sector that cost state coffers billions of dollars while power cuts persisted.

On Saturday, Bassil thanked his supporters for showing solidarity with him in wake of the sanctions. “We are used to oppression. We will be victorious and emerge from this stronger,” he vowed.

FPM supporters had held rallies in cars in a show solidarity with the lawmaker, denouncing the sanctions and saying that they were imposed because Bassil refused to “succumb” to issues that “violate his principles, convictions and national choices.”

Hezbollah had also condemned the sanctions, saying they were “politically motivated and blatant interference in Lebanese internal affairs.”



Israeli Settlers Accused of Killing 117 Sheep in West Bank Attack

Palestinians checks wounded sheep after settlers attack a Bedouin community in the Jordan valley, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, July 18, 2025. REUTERS/Ali Sawafta
Palestinians checks wounded sheep after settlers attack a Bedouin community in the Jordan valley, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, July 18, 2025. REUTERS/Ali Sawafta
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Israeli Settlers Accused of Killing 117 Sheep in West Bank Attack

Palestinians checks wounded sheep after settlers attack a Bedouin community in the Jordan valley, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, July 18, 2025. REUTERS/Ali Sawafta
Palestinians checks wounded sheep after settlers attack a Bedouin community in the Jordan valley, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, July 18, 2025. REUTERS/Ali Sawafta

Palestinian Bedouins accused Israeli settlers on Friday of killing 117 sheep in an overnight attack and stealing hundreds of others in an apparent effort to chase farmers off their land in the occupied West Bank.

The incident comes amid what the United Nations described this week as intensifying attacks by Jewish settlers and security forces against Palestinians in the West Bank and record mass displacements, according to Reuters.

The Israeli army did not respond to a request for comment about the mass slaughter of the animals belonging to the Arab al-Kaabaneh Bedouin community, in the Jordan Valley.

Veterinarians were called in to treat a handful of sheep which had survived the knife and gun attack, some of the animals shaking uncontrollably and in apparent shock.

Salem Salman Mujahed, a resident of Arab al-Kaabaneh, said multiple groups of settlers working in coordination had orchestrated the assault, and accused the army of standing by.

"(Settlers) came near the houses. I asked them what are you doing here then we started fighting with each other," he said. "The army detained me, and they handcuffed me."

He said other groups of settlers then attacked the sheep, which are vital to his community's survival.

Palestinian Minister Moayad Shaaban condemned the incident, calling it part of a broader strategy to displace Palestinians from the region.

"These sheep and animals were slaughtered and shot at," he told Reuters. "They are using these tools to terrify these people to leave these areas, which have been inhabited for dozens of years."

MOVING AWAY

The attack prompted at least one family to begin relocating.

Bedouin Tareq Kaabaneh said he could no longer withstand what he called settler intimidation.

"They were armed, they steal donkeys and sheep. In the night they come here and start shooting toward us," Kaabaneh said.

"I am moving now from here, I want to protect my kids and my sheep, my livelihood ... yesterday I was safe, but I don't know what will happen to me tomorrow," he added.

The United Nations reported this week that mass displacements in the West Bank had reached levels unprecedented since Israel first took military control of the territory nearly six decades ago.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva also said there had been 757 settler attacks on Palestinians or their properties since January - a 13% increase from the same period last year.

At least 964 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023. Over the same period, 53 Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinians or in armed clashes.

The US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee demanded this week a full investigation into the killing of a Palestinian American who was beaten to death by settlers in the West Bank on July 11, describing it as a "criminal and terrorist act".

The United Nations' highest court said last year that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories, including the West Bank, was illegal and should end as soon as possible.

Israel disputes this, citing security needs as well as historical and biblical ties to the land, which it captured in the 1967 Middle East war. The West Bank is among the territories Palestinians seek for an independent state.