BEIRUT (AP) — Hezbollah on Wednesday sharply criticized the Lebanese government’s decision to begin a process aiming to disarm the Iran-backed group this year, saying it “fully achieves” neighboring Israel’s interests.
Hezbollah also said in a statement it is ready for a dialogue over its weapons, adding that the Lebanese government should work on “liberating” areas in the country's south still occupied by Israel following a 14-month war with Hezbollah and freeing Lebanese who are still held there.
On Tuesday, the Lebanese government asked the national army to prepare a plan in which only state institutions will have weapons by the end of the year. Hezbollah is also a major Shiite political party that runs a wide network of social institutions.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the government asked the army to have the plan ready by the end of the month for discussion and approval. The decision came shortly after Hezbollah’s leader said his group would not disarm and warned that the Iran-backed faction would resume missile attacks on Israel if military operations against it intensify.
Hezbollah's new statement said Salam’s government “has committed a grave sin that rips Lebanon of weapons to resist Israel.” It asserts that the Lebanese government's decision "came as a result of the dictation by U.S. envoy (Tom) Barrack,” and said the decision to disarm Hezbollah weakens Lebanon as “the Israeli-American aggression continues.”
Beirut is under U.S. pressure to disarm the group that was left gravely weakened by its war with Israel, with many of its political and military leaders dead. The war started a day after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack against Israel from Gaza, as Hezbollah said it targeted Israel in solidarity with Palestinians.
The war left more than 4,000 people dead and caused damage worth $11 billion, and ended with a November ceasefire.
Since then, Hezbollah officials have said the group will not discuss its disarmament until Israel withdraws from five hills it controls inside Lebanon and stops almost daily airstrikes that have killed or wounded hundreds of people, most of them Hezbollah members.
Israel has accused Hezbollah of trying to rebuild its military capabilities. Since the ceasefire, Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for one attack on a disputed area along the border.
In this photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office, Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, left, and Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, right, meets ahead of a Cabinet meeting which supposed to discuss the disarmament of Hezbollah, at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency press office via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.
The U.S. Coast Guard boarded the tanker, named Veronica, early Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media. The ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean,” she said.
U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”
Several U.S. government social media accounts posted brief videos that appeared to show various parts of the ship’s capture. Black-and-white footage showed at least four helicopters approaching the ship before hovering over the deck while armed troops dropped down by rope. At least nine people could be seen on the deck of the ship.
The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.
The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, it was partially filled with crude.
The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.
According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for moving cargoes of illicit Russian oil.
As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”
Speaking to reporters at the White House later Thursday, Noem declined to say how many sanctioned oil tankers the U.S. is tracking or whether the government is keeping tabs on freighters beyond the Caribbean Sea.
“I can’t speak to the specifics of the operation, although we are watching the entire shadow fleet and how they’re moving,” she told reporters.
However, other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear that they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.
Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.
This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro’s capture and the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, not the Galileo.
Associated Press writer Ben Finley contributed to this report.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)
