US shifts over $100M in military aid from Israel, Egypt to Lebanon
By Matthew Lee, The Associated Press
Tuesday, Jan 7, 2025
The Biden administration is working to bolster the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire agreement through military aid. Here, an Israeli couple overlooks southern Lebanon from northern Israel on Nov. 30, 2024. (Leo Correa/AP)
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration in its final days is shifting more than $100 million in military aid from Israel and Egypt to Lebanon as it tries to bolster a ceasefire agreement it helped mediate between Israel and Hezbollah.
In separate notices sent to Congress, the State Department said it was moving $95 million in military assistance intended for Egypt and $7.5 million for Israel toward supporting the Lebanese army and its government. The notices were dated Jan. 3 and obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Most of the money will go to the Lebanese Armed Forces, which have a critical role in standing up the ceasefire that was agreed to in November following an all-out war that battered much of southern and eastern Lebanon for two months.
It is intended to help the LAF deploy in the south of the country and supplement the role of the U.N. peacekeeping mission patrolling the so-called Blue Line, which has separated Israel and Lebanon since the end of a 2006 war between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group.
https://www.militarytimes.com/global/mideast-africa/2025/01/07/us-shifts-over-100m-in-military-aid-from-israel-egypt-to-lebanon/
