US sanctions Ethiopian hardliners and Lebanese officials linked to Hezbollah

The United States has imposed sanctions on hardline members of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) whose conduct against the Ethiopian government risks reigniting conflict in the north and jeopardizing regional stability.

On Thursday, the State Department announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will enforce visa restrictions against TPLF extremists, their relatives, and other individuals involved in the Tigray crisis.

Washington reaffirmed its support for both the Ethiopian and Tigray peoples, pledging to employ all available measures to expose and hold accountable those undermining regional stability.

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front, a prominent ethnic‑nationalist party, lies at the heart of an upheaval that threatens the 2022 Pretoria Agreement that concluded a brutal two‑year conflict.

After the TPLF lost its hold on national power in 2018 and tensions with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration escalated, a civil war erupted, killing 600,000 people and pushing Tigray toward famine.

Earlier this year, Tigray Security Forces (TSF) engaged the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) in their first major clash since the 2020‑2022 hostilities ended.

At the same time, the United States designated two Lebanese officials aligned with Hezbollah, along with members of a Hezbollah business network overseen by U.S.‑designated Alaa Hassan Hamieh.

The officials are alleged to support a terrorist organization and to use their influence to “deliberately and systematically undermine the authority of the Lebanese state.”

Washington argues that such activities, which hinder the Lebanese government’s ability to exercise national control, compromise its sovereignty and entrench parallel power that weakens Lebanon at the expense of the Middle East.

Additional associates of Alaa Hamieh and his network in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Oman were also designated; they raise funds, execute contracts, and run front companies to generate revenue for Hezbollah.

“Hezbollah puts Iran, not Lebanon, first,” the Statement Department noted. “Hezbollah is the single biggest obstacle to Lebanon’s recovery and future, and holds the state hostage to a permanent state of conflict.”