The United States denied Wednesday an Israeli claim that US-supplied
armored vehicles seen being operated by Hezbollah in Syria had been
given to the Islamist militia by Lebanon’s official army.

Last month, footage emerged of Hezbollah fighters operating M113
armored personnel carriers in Syria, where the militia — blacklisted by
Washington as a terrorist organization — is fighting in support of
Bashar al-Assad’s regime. On Wednesday, a senior Israeli military official speaking on
condition of anonymity said Israel believes these vehicles were drawn
from stocks supplied by Washington to the Lebanese Armed Forces.

But, in Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby said US
officials have investigated and do not believe that Lebanon has violated
its agreement not to transfer on US-supplied equipment. “When this allegation was raised in November, the Department of
Defense did a structural analysis of the armored personnel carriers in
question at that time and concluded that these vehicles were not from
the Lebanese Armed Forces. Our assessment remains the same now,” Kirby
told AFP.

“As we noted when this first came up, the Lebanese Armed Forces
stated publicly that the vehicles depicted online were never part of
their equipment roster,” he added. “The LAF fully complies with end use monitoring requirements,
continues to have an exemplary track record with US equipment and
remains a valued partner in the fight against ISIL and other
extremists,” he said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group.