Shafaq News- Washington

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday condemned Hezbollah’s “reckless call” to overthrow Lebanon’s government, warning that the group’s “threats of violence” would fail.

In a statement, Rubio accused Hezbollah of pursuing “a deliberate campaign to destabilize” Lebanon and drag it back to “chaos and destruction,” while accusing the group of continuing attacks on Israeli positions and moving fighters and weapons into southern Lebanon despite repeated calls to respect the ceasefire.

He also expressed the United States’ support for the Lebanese government “as it works to restore its authority and build a better future for all its people.”

The remarks came hours after Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said the Lebanese government should step down if it is unable to protect the country’s sovereignty, adding that citizens have the right to “take to the streets” to bring it down and confront what he described as a US-Israeli agenda.

Since March 2, Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed 3,151 people and wounded 9,571 others, including women and children, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Hezbollah says its retaliatory rocket and drone attacks against Israeli positions and troop gatherings are carried out in response to “Israeli ceasefire violations and strikes on southern Lebanese villages that have killed and wounded civilians.”