Lebanese military court charges 13 over Hezbollah explosives truck

BEIRUT — A Lebanese military court has charged 13 people in connection with a seized truck carrying explosives belonging to the terror group Hezbollah, state media reported on Friday.

The charges marked the latest sign of a dramatic shift in relations between Hezbollah and Lebanon after two wars between the Iran-backed terror group and Israel in the past three years.

For decades, Hezbollah moved weapons freely in parts of Lebanon. That changed in March, when the government declared the group’s military activities illegal following the outbreak of the latest war.

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Two defendants were arrested when authorities seized the shipment earlier this month and remain in custody. The other 11 remain at large and were charged in absentia. Five were identified only by nicknames because their real names remain unknown.

The cases were referred to the military court’s investigative judge, Claude Ghanem.

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The charges include crimes against internal state security, possession of weapons and explosives, and forming illegal associations aimed at undermining state authority, the state-run National News Agency said.

Hezbollah did not immediately comment.

The truck was stopped at a checkpoint on the main highway linking Beirut to the eastern Bekaa Valley earlier this month. It carried 780 kilograms (1,720 pounds) of explosives, including 250 kilograms (550 pounds) of TNT and 250 kilograms (550 pounds) of C-4 plastic explosives, according to judicial officials.

The seizure sparked heated public debate, with many accusing Hezbollah of planning to assassinate domestic opponents as it faces mounting pressure to disarm.

Hezbollah later acknowledged owning the explosives, saying they were intended for use against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. It said it had asked Lebanese authorities to return the shipment and release the two detainees.

The government outlawed Hezbollah’s military activities hours after the group fired rockets into northern Israel, triggering a war that has killed nearly 4,000 people in Lebanon and left Israeli forces occupying a large swath of the country’s south. Hezbollah fired the rockets two days after Israel and the United States launched a war on Iran, its main backer.

Hezbollah has refused to recognize the government’s decision.

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