Hezbollah acknowledged Thursday that a shipment of approximately half a ton of explosives seized by Lebanese authorities belonged to the Iran-backed group, in a rare public admission that directly challenges the government's efforts to disarm the terrorist organization.
The explosives were discovered last week in a vehicle traveling along the main highway connecting eastern Lebanon, near the Syrian border, with Beirut. According to a judicial source cited by AFP, the shipment included 250 kilograms of TNT and 250 kilograms of C-4, a powerful plastic explosive.
Hezbollah members attend a ceremony honoring Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a Lebanese village
(Photo: Reuters)
"The vehicle and its cargo belong to the resistance" against Israel, Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said, demanding the immediate release of those arrested in connection with the seizure and the return of the vehicle and its contents. He insisted the explosives were intended exclusively for operations against Israel.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam had condemned the shipment and pledged that authorities would identify everyone involved in what he described as a criminal operation, including those who ordered it. He said the government would act firmly against weapons outside state control, citing public concern over the discovery of C-4, which has been used in several notorious political assassinations in Lebanon.
Hezbollah rejected suggestions that the explosives were intended for domestic attacks. Fadlallah accused Salam of conducting a campaign designed to deepen divisions among Lebanese citizens, insisting that the group's weapons were directed solely against Israel.
The dispute comes amid longstanding concerns about political violence in Lebanon. Members of Hezbollah were convicted by an international tribunal in connection with the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, who was killed in a massive bombing in Beirut.
Analysts described Hezbollah's unusually direct acknowledgment as a calculated political decision. Karim Bitar, a lecturer at Sciences Po Paris, said the group appeared to be trying to control the narrative after being caught with the shipment.
More significantly, Bitar said, the admission represents another rejection of Lebanon's August 2025 decision to task the military with disarming Hezbollah, placing the government in an increasingly difficult position.
David Wood, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, said Hezbollah was seeking to demonstrate that it remained committed to armed confrontation with Israel while denying accusations that its weapons could be used against political rivals at home.
Hezbollah has been weakened by two conflicts with Israel since 2023, including fighting that erupted in March 2026 in support of Iran. It has not claimed an attack against Israel since June 20, following a reduction in hostilities under diplomatic arrangements involving Washington, Tehran, Beirut and Jerusalem.
The collapse of Bashar Assad's regime in Syria also disrupted Hezbollah's traditional weapons supply routes from Iran through Iraq and Syria. Lebanese and Syrian authorities have since intensified efforts to combat smuggling across their shared 330-kilometer border.
Lebanon's military has seized two additional explosives shipments near the Syrian border this month, underscoring the difficulties facing efforts to enforce state control over weapons as Hezbollah continues to reject disarmament.