Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, issued a statement on December 5, 2025, between 2:46 p.m. and 5:45 p.m. UTC from CENTCOM headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, according to the command's official X post. The statement appeared on CENTCOM's X account at https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/1996988668171431947 during the nearly three-hour reporting window. This development follows a speech earlier on December 5 by Hezbollah deputy secretary-general Naim Qassem vowing defense of Lebanon against Israel and the United States, as reported by Israel's Kan 11 Arab desk in the prior period before 2:46 p.m. UTC.
