The United States Department of War announced the approval of aid worth $14.2 million for the Lebanese Army on Wednesday to bolster the military in its mission to “degrade Hezbollah,” which it states is “in line with the administration’s priority to counter Iranian-backed terrorist groups in the region.”
According to a Pentagon statement, the funds are intended to “build the capability and capacity of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) to dismantle weapons caches and military infrastructure of non-state groups, including Hezbollah.”
The statement specifies that the aid, which is part of a Presidential Drawdown Authority package, is meant to allow the Army to acquire the capability to safely handle “shaped charges, demolition charges, detonating cords, electric and non-electric blasting caps, time blasting fuse igniters, time blasting fuse igniters with shock tubes, time blasting fuses, generators and transportation.” It refers both to unexploded ordinances and weapons caches, L’Orient Today reported.
On Saturday 06 September 2025, the LAF Commander, General Rodolph Haykal, received in his office in Yarzeh the Commander of the U.S. Central Command, Admiral Charles B. Cooper (photo), at the head of an accompanying delegation, in the presence of the Head of the Quintet Oversight Committee (Mechanism), Major General Michael Leeney, the Lebanese Army said in a statement.
The discussions addressed the general situation in Lebanon and the region, as well as ways to support the LAF amid the current developments and challenges. (Pentagon; Lebanese Army; L’Orient Today; Photo © Lebanese Army)
