Lebanon Charges 13 in Half-Ton Blast Plot

Thirteen members of Hezbollah now face formal charges in Lebanon following the discovery of a large cache of explosives in the country’s Bekaa Valley. The Military Court issued the indictment over the weekend, marking a direct legal response to the seizure of 250 kilograms of TNT-type explosives and 250 kilograms of C4 from a vehicle traveling toward Beirut earlier this month.

Judge Claude Ghanem filed the charges against the 13 individuals. Among them are Ali Al Kurdi and Haitham Amhaz, the two operatives arrested inside the vehicle during the checkpoint stop. While the indictment covers the entire group, only Al Kurdi and Amhaz remain in Lebanese custody. The court accused the defendants of endangering state security, defying government decisions, belonging to a banned organization, and possessing firearms and explosives without proper authorization.

The explosives were found at a checkpoint in Dahr al-Baidar. Lebanese officials expressed concern that the materials might have been intended for a political assassination. Commentators noted that the specific types of explosives match those used in the truck bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon later determined that Hezbollah members were responsible for that attack, which killed 22 people and injured hundreds of others.

Hezbollah officials rejected the legal action. The party demanded the immediate release of its operatives and the return of the seized materials. Both requests have been denied so far. In a statement, MP Hussein Hajj Hassan of the Hezbollah parliamentary bloc called the charges unfair and unjust. He argued that the indictment violated the National Pact, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the United Nations Charter. "The detainees and the other defendants were performing a national duty in defense of their country and the sovereignty of the state, and to protect the Lebanese people," he said.

Hajj Hassan maintained that the group was not in a position to harm the state's security. He described the members as resistance fighters confronting an Israeli enemy that he said threatens Lebanon through occupation, assassinations, and bombings. Recent polling suggests that most Lebanese citizens want Hezbollah disarmed and prefer that the elected government hold sole authority over military decisions.

Legal experts note that the potential sentence for the 13 defendants is up to 10 years in prison. However, the Military Court has a history of issuing lenient sentences to Hezbollah operatives accused of arms violations. In March, Judge Wassim Fayad released four Hezbollah members on symbolic bail of $21 after they spent just six days in detention for possessing illegal weapons.

The legal action occurs as Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Joe Rajji pushes back against Iranian influence. Speaking at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain on Saturday, Rajji stated that Lebanon would no longer allow its territory to be used to threaten the security of Arab countries. "Foreign policy is decided in Beirut, and national security is exclusively the responsibility of the state," he said.

Rajji added that Lebanon has suffered from the instrumentalization of armed organizations for foreign interests. He emphasized that national decision-making power has been hijacked to serve regional agendas that do not align with the interests of the Lebanese people. The incident comes as Jerusalem waits for evidence that Beirut can contain the threat posed by Hezbollah as part of efforts to secure a lasting ceasefire.