Arabic version: انقسام في لبنان حول متفجرات حزب الله المصادرة

According to Al Jazeera, Lebanese security forces stopped a minivan at a checkpoint in Dahr el-Baydar on October 5 and found hundreds of kilograms of explosive materials, including TNT and C-4. Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said the vehicle and its cargo belonged to Hezbollah and called for their return, along with the release of two people detained in the vehicle.

Fadlallah said the explosives were intended for use against Israeli forces occupying parts of southern Lebanon, not against the Lebanese government or other factions. He warned Lebanese authorities against escalating their measures and said Hezbollah would defend what it described as capabilities used to confront Israel.

Hezbollah’s political opponents have voiced concern that smuggled explosives could be used against the group’s detractors. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam noted that C-4 had been used in past assassinations, while investigators have not established that the seized shipment was intended for such an attack. Salam said authorities would expand their investigation to identify those involved and would deal firmly with weapons outside the legal framework.

The seizure has highlighted disagreements between the government and Hezbollah over armed resistance and the control of non-state weapons. Lebanon’s government banned Hezbollah’s military activities on March 2, but the group has continued to fight Israel. Fighting has largely subsided since June, when Beirut and Tel Aviv signed a US-administered trilateral framework agreement that envisaged Israel eventually withdrawing and the Lebanese Army entering pilot zones to disarm Hezbollah.

Analysts cited concerns over the effectiveness of investigations, given Lebanon’s multiple security agencies and their competing loyalties. Marcel Baloukji, a former brigadier general, said the government also faces continuing Israeli occupation and demolitions in the south, while the framework agreement remains stalled.