US supports Israeli response to Lebanon rocket launch, calls on army to disarm Hezbollah

A senior Trump administration official said Friday that the Lebanese government and military need to do more to stop Hezbollah and other non-state militias from attacking Israel, throwing Washington’s full support for the Israeli response in the heart of the Lebanese capital.

Rockets were fired by an unknown group in southern Lebanon earlier Friday but intercepted by Israeli defense systems. Israel responded by flattening a building in the southern suburbs of Beirut and attacking several locations in south Lebanon.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said three people were killed and another 18 wounded, including children.

Asked about the cross-border exchanges, the US official said the rocket launches were “blatant violations” of the ceasefire deal brokered by the US between Lebanon and Israel last November. “Israel is absolutely within the rights to respond,” Deputy Special Envoy for Middle East Peace Morgan Ortagus said.

Ortagus called on Beirut to “rid their territory of these terrorist groups.”

Hezbollah denied responsibility for the attacks, and Ortagus said it was unclear who was behind the launches.

“So to me, it’s insignificant if it’s Hezbollah, if it’s Hamas or another group. What matters is whenever rockets leave your country and go to another country, then you are unfortunately breaking the ceasefire,” she added.

Ortagus praised the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) for their work in recent months to take over Hezbollah military posts but said they were not doing enough.

Ortagus said Hezbollah would be fully disarmed, voicing a preference for the LAF to carry out this operation.