Lebanon charges 13 over confiscated Hezbollah explosives

A Lebanese military court has charged 13 people it says are linked to Hezbollah with trafficking explosives, amid growing pressure on the Iran-backed group to disarm.

The individuals were charged on Friday with offences including possessing weapons, undermining state security and forming illegal associations, Lebanese state media reported.

The charges stem from the seizure earlier this month of a truck transporting explosives at Dahr al-Baydar checkpoint, which links the capital, Beirut, to the eastern Bekaa Valley.

The vehicle had been carrying 780kg (1,720 pounds) of explosives, including 250kg (550 pounds) of TNT and 250kg (550 pounds) of C-4 plastic explosives, according to judicial officials.

Two people were arrested during the seizure, while the 11 others charged remain at large. Five have been identified only by nicknames because their real names are unknown.

Hezbollah has acknowledged owning the seized explosives, saying they were intended for use against Israel, which continues to occupy large parts of southern Lebanon. It said it had asked Lebanese authorities to return the shipment and release the two detainees, calling the charges against them “unjust”.

Those charged “did not undermine the security or integrity of the state, but rather confronted the Israeli enemy that threatens Lebanon’s existence,” said Hezbollah Member of Parliament Hussein Hajj Hassan.

Hezbollah’s political opponents fear that smuggled explosives will be turned against the group’s detractors, although investigators have not established that the seized shipment was intended for such an attack.

The case comes as pressure mounts on Hezbollah, which has fought two successive wars with Israel and faces a push from authorities in Beirut, to disarm its military wing.

In June, Lebanon and Israel signed a framework agreement which envisaged Israel’s gradual withdrawal from the areas it occupies in southern Lebanon, tied to Hezbollah’s disarmament, as well as the deployment of the Lebanese army to the south.

But Hezbollah has repeatedly rejected calls to disarm, and the group’s chief, Naim Qassem, has dismissed the Lebanon-Israel agreement as “null and void”.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has promised state authorities “will deal with weapons outside the legal framework with the required firmness”.