Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has requested that military intelligence expand investigations into the explosives truck case, according to the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar. The daily reported on Saturday that State Prosecutor Rami Al-Haj issued judicial summonses to security agencies to arrest Hussein Al-Abdallah, head of Hezbollah’s liaison and coordination committee, and his assistant, Ali Ayoub, regarding their knowledge of and responsibility for the truck carrying explosives. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam affirmed last Monday that there is no leniency or laxity regarding the investigation into the seizure of more than half a ton of explosives of the TNT and C-4 types. Iran is not far from the matter, as the Revolutionary Guard manages Hezbollah’s operations today and continues to supply it with weapons and money to keep it in the axis of resistance to continue supporting Tehran in its open confrontation with America and Israel.
Judicial Warrants Target Hezbollah Coordination Officials
The seized shipment contained more than half a ton of TNT and C-4. Following the directive, authorities aim to establish their knowledge of the shipment and identify all other responsible individuals. The shipment seized by internal security was moving from the Bekaa, near the Syrian border, to the southern suburbs of Beirut, raising the probability that its source was Syrian territory. This comes shortly after the detection and halting of attempts to smuggle hundreds of kilograms of these materials from Syria to Lebanon, raising the possibility that other quantities have reached Hezbollah in Lebanon and may currently be in the Bekaa or smuggled into the southern suburbs of Beirut.
The nature of C-4 explosives makes them unsuited for manufacturing warheads for missiles or mortar shells, or for rocket fuel. They are suited for blowing up facilities, mountains (for tunneling), or for assassination operations. While entities linked to Hezbollah have claimed these explosives are for resisting Israeli occupation in the south, this does not align with the type of materials and their uses. Hezbollah has a history and is accused by multiple Lebanese and international parties of involvement in the assassinations of officials, and elements belonging to the party were convicted by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon of assassinating former President Rafik Hariri.
Political Confrontation Replaces Judicial Processing
Hezbollah, through lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah, announced its refusal to abandon the explosives, moving the dispute from security and judicial processing to direct confrontation with the authority. Palace leaks indicate that Aoun sought to push the American side to pressure Israel, though the path of American demands does not suggest this direction is a priority for Washington.
Military court prosecutor Judge Claude Ghanem questioned two detainees in the explosives case, and the seized items were placed in the custody of the Lebanese Military Police.
The Echoes of Political Intimidation
The revelation of the explosives shipment serves as a form of psychological pressure. By invoking the memory of political assassinations since 2005, from former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri to Lokman Slim, the potential for violence remains a tool for intimidation. With the current Iranian reality, an assassination would be suicide for Hezbollah, as it would unite everyone against it, enter it into a comprehensive confrontation, and destroy the “infallibility of its weapons” as resistance arms.
The standoff leaves the state with the real test of ending the ability of any party to turn weapons and memory into tools for subjugating political life. The difference between admitting to owning a tool that can be politically justified and bearing the responsibility for using it remains key to understanding the hypothesis.
