Lebanese judicial authorities have expanded their investigation into a shipment of explosives seized in Dahr al-Baydar, on the Bekaa-Beirut highway, seeking to establish its origin, intended recipients and purpose amid renewed fears of political assassinations.
The investigation is being overseen by Prosecutor General Ahmad Rami al-Hajj and Military Court Government Commissioner Judge Claude Ghanem.
Ghanem returned the preliminary investigation files of two detainees, identified as Ali K. and Haitham A., to military police investigators, requesting further questioning about the explosives and their intended destination.
He also ordered security agencies to identify two individuals known as Sajed and Zulfiqar, described by the detainees as Hezbollah officials.
A senior judicial source told Asharq Al-Awsat that preliminary confessions indicated Sajed had handed over the shipment in the Bekaa Valley, while Zulfiqar was awaiting its delivery in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified Ali K. as the son of a Resistance Brigades official in central Bekaa. Both detainees admitted belonging to Hezbollah, the source added.
Investigators were instructed to identify other suspects, amid suspicions that a larger group trained in handling explosives was involved.
“The quantity and dangerous nature of the shipment suggest the operation involved more than those responsible for handing over, receiving and transporting it,” the source explained.
Fears of Renewed Assassinations
Identifying the two alleged Hezbollah officials could help determine whether the seized explosives were part of a broader weapons trafficking operation.
According to the judicial source, the shipment is believed to have contained more than 500 kilograms of explosives, packed in cardboard boxes alongside small metal balls and nails designed to penetrate vehicle bodywork when propelled by an explosion.
The discovery has revived fears of a return to the wave of assassinations Lebanon experienced between 2005 and 2012, the source warned.
However, the official cautioned that establishing the existence of a security plot would require evidence beyond the seizure itself.
Calls to Disband Hezbollah’s Military Structure
The case has prompted political demands for the dismantling of Hezbollah’s military and security apparatus.
Lebanese Kataeb Party leader MP Sami Gemayel urged the state to dismantle Hezbollah’s military and security infrastructure immediately, warning against a recurrence of the assassinations that struck Lebanon between 2004 and 2008.
Gemayel recalled the 2005 explosives truck case, arguing that the failure to intercept it had led to the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
MP Ashraf Rifi, a former senior security official, described the seizure as an extremely serious development and a test of state authority and institutional credibility.
He demanded that investigators uncover the entire network, prosecute everyone involved, including any implicated leaders, and examine possible links to previous assassinations without political interference or compromise.
Rifi also called for eliminating Hezbollah’s military and security structures operating outside state authority.
Justice Minister Adel Nassar, meanwhile, pledged that the investigation and all related inquiries would continue to their conclusion.
In a post on X, he stressed that disarming unauthorized groups and combating terrorism were non-negotiable objectives, adding that efforts to achieve them would be stepped up.
