The US State Department accused Lebanon’s military justice system of shielding Hezbollah while pursuing a diplomat. The dispute began after a lawyer affiliated with Hezbollah filed a complaint against Lebanon’s Ambassador to Washington, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, following reports that she called Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter to ask about his son, who was wounded in a terrorist attack.
A State Department spokesperson didn’t soften the language. “It is embarrassing that a military court is handling a complaint against Lebanon’s ambassador in Washington simply because she was implementing her legitimate government’s policy and participating in US-led negotiations,” the statement said.
A Hezbollah Lawyer Moves Against a Diplomat
Lebanese lawyer Hassan Adel Bazzi filed the complaint; the State Department identified him as affiliated with Hezbollah. It followed an article published in September by Beirut Review. According to that report, Moawad contacted Leiter to ask about his son’s condition after he was wounded in a terrorist attack.
A human question about a wounded young man. Now an ambassador faces a complaint before a military court.
Lebanon’s attorney-general referred the complaint to the government commissioner at the military court to examine possible legal action. It’s still unclear whether the case will lead to proceedings or be dismissed and closed.
The affair has raised concerns that the complaint aims to deter officials involved in negotiations between Lebanon and Israel. Such a move could complicate diplomatic efforts between the two countries amid political and security tensions in Lebanon.
Washington Demands Prosecutions of Hezbollah, Not Diplomats
The State Department said Lebanon’s military justice system should spend its limited resources prosecuting Hezbollah operatives planning to act against the Lebanese government and its citizens, “rather than those acting on their behalf.” It called on Lebanon to repeal laws and procedures that, it said, enable the “political persecution of citizens and diplomats,” while Hezbollah operatives systematically receive protection.
“We have no patience for obstruction,” the statement said.
The American position is plain. Moawad carried out her government’s policy and took part in US-led negotiations. The State Department stressed that she acted for a legitimate government. The organization now using the legal system against her answers to no such mandate.
Money, Explosives and a Strengthening Armed Group
The complaint comes amid growing concerns in Lebanon over Hezbollah’s conduct and strengthening position. The organization recently announced it had funds at its disposal. The United States rejected the claim, and the State Department maintained that funds purportedly received from Iran don’t exist.
Lebanese authorities, meanwhile, reported intercepting a shipment of explosives. According to reports, two suspects affiliated with Hezbollah smuggled the explosives in a truck from eastern Lebanon toward Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The pattern in one news cycle is hard to miss. Two Hezbollah-affiliated suspects allegedly move explosives toward the capital’s southern suburbs. A Hezbollah-affiliated lawyer pursues the ambassador who asked after an Israeli envoy’s wounded son. The group claims money Washington says Iran never sent.
Whether the military court’s commissioner shelves the complaint or lets it advance will show which side of that line Lebanon’s institutions intend to stand on. Washington has already made clear which side it expects them to choose.