from the News Desk at The Cradle, March 5, 2025
On 5 March, US Representative Greg Steube reintroduced to Congress the Preventing Armed Groups from Engaging in Radicalism (PAGER) Act, which seeks to condition US financial aid to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) until Beirut ends “any official recognition of Hezbollah and its allies.”
According to the text of the bill published by Independent Arabia, the law would require that the Lebanese government strip Hezbollah and its Shia Muslim allies, such as the Amal Movement, of their political legitimacy.
Specifically, the PAGER Act states that US funding for the LAF will only be restored if it expands its deployment to Hezbollah’s areas of influence, cuts all coordination and cooperation with Hezbollah “or any other organization that the United States designates as a terrorist organization,” destroys any military equipment received from Iran, and drops all prosecutions against US citizens in Lebanon.
It would also designate the head of military intelligence in southern Lebanon, Suhail Bahij, as a global terrorist under US Executive Order 13224.
Furthermore, 60 days after its passage, the bill would bar Washington from funding UN development programs that assist the LAF and Internal Security Forces until all conditions are met.
“Until the people of Lebanon can live free of Hezbollah’s terror and persecution, long-term peace and stability in the Middle East will remain out of reach,” Steube said on Wednesday. “My PAGER Act will ensure U.S. tax dollars never end up in the hands of Hezbollah,” he added.
Steube initially introduced the PAGER Act to Congress on 18 September, one day after Israeli intelligence agencies conducted a mass terror attack in Lebanon that saw the remote detonation of thousands of explosives hidden inside pagers acquired by the Lebanese resistance.
The act of state terrorism killed dozens of people and injured over 3,500, including women and children.
Despite intense pressure from US officials to isolate Hezbollah, last month, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam officially announced the formation of a new government, naming 24 ministers to his cabinet, including five allied with the so-called “Shia duo” of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement.
*Featured Image: TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Lebanese health ministry said at least nine people have been killed and 2,800 others wounded in explosion of wireless communication devices, known as pagers, in Lebanon.