The capture of Venezuela’s president and his transfer, along with his wife, to the United States for trial has reverberated far beyond Caracas, resonating across the Middle East and drawing particular attention in Lebanon.

The operation quickly took on wider geopolitical significance after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington’s objectives in Venezuela include cutting the country’s ties with Iran and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, in addition to combating drug trafficking.

Rubio’s comments explicitly linked the Venezuelan developments to Hezbollah, a connection that has been closely watched in Lebanon amid already elevated regional tensions.

The U.S. stance came as Al Jazeera, citing Israel’s Channel 13, reported that Israel’s security cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is set to convene on Thursday to review the Gaza, Lebanon and Iran files, with signs pointing toward an expansion of Israeli operations against Hezbollah.

Those reports surfaced as claims circulated that an Israeli infantry unit had moved toward Lebanese territory in the al-Assi Hill area east of the southern border town of Mays al-Jabal, adding to concerns of possible escalation along the border.

Israeli channel I24 News also reported that a message delivered by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar to the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, highlighted what Israel sees as a wide gap between expectations and realities on the ground.

According to the report, Saar told the UN envoy that efforts by the Lebanese government and the Lebanese army to disarm Hezbollah remain “wholly insufficient,” particularly given what Israel describes as the group’s ongoing attempts to rearm and rebuild its capabilities with Iranian support.

Together, the Venezuelan operation, Washington’s stated objective of rolling back Iranian and Hezbollah influence, and Israel’s increasingly firm posture toward the group have heightened concern in Lebanon that shifting international and regional dynamics could once again place the country at the center of a wider confrontation.