U.S. Condemns Legal Action Against Lebanese Ambassador to Washington

The United States Department of State condemned a legal complaint filed in Lebanon's military judiciary against Nada Hamadeh Moawad, Lebanon's ambassador to Washington. The complaint, lodged by Hezbollah-aligned lawyer Hassan Adel Bazzi, alleges that Moawad violated a 1955 anti-normalization law prohibiting contact with Israeli citizens.

The legal action follows Moawad's outreach to Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, to express sympathy after Leiter's son was critically wounded in a car-ramming attack in the West Bank in September. Both ambassadors have also participated in U.S.-mediated negotiations to restore Lebanese government control in southern Lebanon and address the armed presence of Hezbollah.

Washington characterized the use of a military court to handle the complaint as embarrassing, arguing that Moawad was implementing legitimate government policy. The U.S. government accused Hezbollah-linked actors of using the judiciary to obstruct diplomatic channels and urged Lebanon to repeal laws that enable the politicized targeting of civilians while shielding Hezbollah operatives.

While Lebanese media reported that the public prosecutor's referral of the case to Judge Claude Ghanem was a routine procedural step rather than a formal prosecution, the dispute occurs amid strained peace efforts. The U.S. continues to facilitate meetings between the ambassadors to resolve verification and sequencing disputes following a June framework agreement for Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon contingent on Hezbollah's disarmament.