Rubio Praises Lebanon’s Push to Disarm Hezbollah as Israel Presses Its Campaign

by | Jul 20, 2026 | News

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah during a meeting in Washington on Sunday, a sign of the diplomatic track running alongside Israel’s continued military operations in southern Lebanon.

According to Rubio’s office, the secretary commended the courage of the Lebanese government under Aoun’s leadership for its determined effort to reclaim Lebanon’s sovereignty, disarm Hezbollah, and dismantle the group’s infrastructure. The remarks come as Israel and Lebanon work through an American mediated framework aimed at pulling Israeli forces back from parts of the south while the Lebanese army deploys to take control and militant groups give up their weapons.

The diplomacy is unfolding against a backdrop of ongoing conflict. Israel has continued near daily strikes and controlled demolitions in southern Lebanese border towns, describing the operations as the destruction of Hezbollah infrastructure, including tunnel networks and weapons sites. Israel continues to hold a buffer zone reaching several kilometers into Lebanese territory, which officials say is necessary to protect communities in the north. Hezbollah has rejected the framework and refused to disarm.

The current fighting traces back to early in the year, when Hezbollah began firing on Israel following the outbreak of the war with Iran. The exchanges escalated sharply through the spring, with heavy Israeli strikes and significant casualties in Lebanon, before negotiations opened under international pressure. Delegations from Israel and Lebanon most recently met in Rome, agreeing to move to a technical phase and to hold a further round on a date not yet set.

Analysts note that Iran, consumed by its confrontation with the United States over the Strait of Hormuz, may prefer to preserve Hezbollah as a long term deterrent rather than see it disarmed now. That calculation complicates any path to a durable arrangement in the south.

For residents on both sides of the border, the mix of diplomacy and continued strikes captures the uneasy reality of the moment. Talks are advancing in European capitals even as explosions echo across southern Lebanon, and the question of whether Hezbollah will ultimately lay down its arms remains, for now, unresolved.

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