A woman looks up at a damaged building at the scene of an Israeli strike on a building in Beirut's southern suburbs on April 1, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
The United States has reportedly warned Persian Gulf Arab countries that they are not allowed to deliver any of the promised reconstruction aid to Lebanon and Syria until Israel’s objectives are met.
Citing sources, the Beirut-based al-Akhbar daily reported on Thursday that the administration of US President Donald Trump has placed an “undeclared veto” on Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Arab littoral states in the Persian Gulf that had vowed to provide Lebanon and Syria with financial support.
Washington informed the countries that no financial aid should be given to Lebanon and Syria “at this stage” as part of a “maximum pressure campaign" on both nations, the report said.
It added that the US had conditioned the lifting of the ban on an end to the conflict between Tel Aviv and Beirut that leads to the disarmament of the Hezbollah resistance movement and a political transformation in Lebanon.
Other conditions also include the results of upcoming US-Iran talks and the repercussions of Washington's trade war with China.
“Trump’s team sees resolving conflicts [in West Asia], particularly by incorporating Lebanon into the Abraham Accords, as a way to lock the region into the US sphere of influence and limit China’s foothold,” the report said.
It further suggested that the US administration intends to block any aid to Lebanon through at least 2026, in a bid to push the people not to vote for Hezbollah in the parliamentary election.
“Arab countries want to help Lebanon but won’t pay without results or risk upsetting the US. What matters more is what Trump will demand during his Persian Gulf tour next month – and how to gather the trillions he wants amid economic strain and falling oil prices," according to the report.
Hezbollah opened a support front for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip after Israel unleashed a genocidal war on the besieged territory on October 7, 2023, launching numerous retaliatory attacks against targets in the occupied lands.
Israel was forced to accept a ceasefire with Hezbollah on November 27, 2024, after suffering heavy losses on the battleground and failing to achieve its goals despite killing over 4,000 people in Lebanon.
Since then, the Israeli military has kept attacking Lebanon on an almost daily basis and has refused to withdraw its occupation troops from the Arab country.
In one of the latest violations on Thursday, an Israeli drone targeted the Aalma ash-Shaab municipality in Lebanon's South governorate. The strike injured a civilian who worked at a factory producing aluminum doors and windows.
Similarly, in Syria, Israel has mounted air raids and expanded its occupation of the country since December 8, 2024, when the government of President Bashar al-Assad collapsed by militants led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).