A Lebanese military court on Friday charged 13 people for their alleged involvement in shipping explosives to Hezbollah, a judicial source told the AFP news agency, after authorities seized the roughly 1,100-pound cargo earlier this month.
The charges come as pressure mounts on Hezbollah, long a major political and paramilitary force in Lebanon that the U.S. and Israel consider an Iran-backed terrorist organization. The group has been weakened by back-to-back wars with Israel and is now facing a concerted push from authorities in Beirut, with backing from the Trump administration, to disarm its military wing.
Only two of the 13 people charged over the explosives shipment have been detained, and only eight have been identified, with the remaining five known only by noms de guerre.
Proceedings have been opened “against 12 members of Hezbollah, and one of their spouses,” a judicial official told AFP. They were charged with “violating government decisions, possession of arms and explosives, and criminal conspiracy to undermine the authority of the state,” the source said.
In a rare admission, Hezbollah acknowledged ownership of the vehicle and its cargo, and even demanded the shipment be returned.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has vowed that authorities “will deal with weapons outside the legal framework with the required firmness.”
In June, Lebanon and Israel signed a framework peace agreement that included the disarmament of Hezbollah and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from occupied territory in southern Lebanon, with the Lebanese army stepping in to secure the area.
So far, Hezbollah has flatly refused to disarm or acknowledge the ceasefire, and very little of what Israel calls its occupied “security zone” in southern Lebanon has been handed over to Lebanese forces.
CBS/AFP