Washington Rejects Hezbollah’s Attempts to Intimidate Lebanon's Judiciary

Razor wire is pictured in front of the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, Lebanon September 29, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Razor wire is pictured in front of the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, Lebanon September 29, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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Washington Rejects Hezbollah’s Attempts to Intimidate Lebanon's Judiciary

Razor wire is pictured in front of the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, Lebanon September 29, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Razor wire is pictured in front of the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, Lebanon September 29, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

The US administration of President Joe Biden said it "rejects" Hezbollah's attempts to "threaten" and "intimidate" the Lebanese judiciary, accusing the pro-Iranian party of threatening Lebanon's security and stability.

The US administration stressed that consultations are ongoing with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and France in order to provide the Lebanese with humanitarian aid.

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price affirmed that the international community had numerously urged the Lebanese authorities to “complete a prompt and transparent investigation into the horrific explosion in the port of Beirut.”

Commenting on the pressures Judge Tareq Bitar is facing by Hezbollah and its affiliates, Price said: “We reject intimidation of any country’s judiciary and we support Lebanon’s judicial independence.

Judges must be free from threats and intimidation, including Hezbollah’s. We’ve long been clear that Hezbollah's terrorist and illicit activities threaten Lebanon’s security, stability and sovereignty.”

He stressed that Hezbollah "is more concerned with its own interests and those of its patron, Iran, than in the best interests of the Lebanese people."

He added that the Under Secretary for Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland, visits Lebanon “to continue the important discussions that we have been having bilaterally with Lebanese authorities, including with our Saudi partners, with our French partners, to see to it that the people of Lebanon can take advantage of the humanitarian relief that they so desperately need.”

He also noted that US officials "support the formation of a stable and inclusive government that meets the needs of the Lebanese people."

He concluded saying that "the victims of the August 2020 port explosion deserve justice. They deserve accountability.”



Israeli Strike Kills One in Lebanon's South

Smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil during Israeli bombardment. (AFP file)
Smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil during Israeli bombardment. (AFP file)
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Israeli Strike Kills One in Lebanon's South

Smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil during Israeli bombardment. (AFP file)
Smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil during Israeli bombardment. (AFP file)

One person was killed on Wednesday in an Israeli strike on a village in southern Lebanon, the health ministry reported, the latest deadly attack despite a November ceasefire.

"The raid carried out by an enemy Israeli drone on the town of Beit Lif, in the Bint Jbeil district, resulted in one martyr and three people injured," read a statement from the ministry.

The official National News Agency said the strike targeted a house's courtyard in the town, adding that a missile hit the homeowner's car.

Israel has regularly bombed its northern neighbor since the November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with armed group Hezbollah including two months of full-blown war.

The agreement required Hezbollah fighters to withdraw north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle all military infrastructure to its south.

It also required Israel to withdraw all of its troops from Lebanon, but it has kept them in five positions it deems "strategic".