Lebanese military prosecutor charges 13 over Hezbollah explosives shipment

Lebanon’s military prosecutor charged 13 people on October 30 over a shipment of explosives that was seized earlier that month at the Dahr al Baidar checkpoint on the Beirut–Bekaa highway, expanding the case beyond the two men detained while transporting the cargo. Reporting on the prosecution identified the shipment’s alleged supplier and recipient, its vehicle owner, and several people accused of facilitating its movement toward Beirut.

Government Commissioner to the Military Court Claude Ghanem, the court’s chief prosecutor, charged eight people identified by name and five others known only by aliases. The reported charges concern membership in unauthorized armed factions, transporting explosives with the aim of undermining state authority, violating state security measures, and engaging in conduct exposing Lebanon to the danger of hostile acts by a foreign state. Four defendants were separately accused of facilitating the alleged offenses through transportation or communications.

The charges follow the October 5 seizure of nearly 800 kilograms of explosives and related materials from a vehicle traveling from the Bekaa Valley toward Beirut. Hezbollah acknowledged ownership of the shipment on October 15 and said the material was intended for use against Israeli forces. A Hezbollah official and a Lebanese security source separately told Reuters that the explosives were intended for explosive-laden drones targeting Israeli troops.

Charges identify the alleged sender, recipient, and transport network

The two men detained with the shipment are Haytham Ahmad Amhaz, born in 1981, and Ali Shawqi al Kurdi, born in 2001. Lebanese reporting has offered conflicting accounts of whether they were formal Hezbollah members and what they acknowledged knowing about the shipment. The prosecution alleges they have membership in unauthorized armed factions, but the reported charges do not independently establish whether Amhaz and al Kurdi were formal Hezbollah members.

The defendants identified so far, with their available biographical information, are:

• Haytham Ahmad Amhaz, born in 1981: One of the two detained couriers. The Lebanese daily Nidaa al Watan identified him as being from Nabha, in the Baalbek area, and alleged that he belonged to Hezbollah’s Lebanese Resistance Brigades, or Saraya al Muqawama, an auxiliary militia that recruits outside Hezbollah’s core membership. Other reporting has variously described him as a Hezbollah member or as a paid intermediary rather than a formal member. He is married to fellow defendant Yelena Krishinova.
• Ali Shawqi al Kurdi, born in 2001: The second detained courier. Nidaa al Watan identified him as being from Saadnayel, specifically its Arab al Haib area, and likewise alleged that he belonged to the Resistance Brigades. As with Amhaz, reporting conflicts over whether al Kurdi was a formal Hezbollah member. Nidaa al Watan also reported that a brother of one of the two detainees was a Resistance Brigades official in Saadnayel but did not identify which detainee.
• Ibrahim Khodr Habib, alias “Sajed,” born in 1965: The Beirut-based news website Al Modon identified Habib as the alleged “Sajed,” who investigators say supplied the explosives to Amhaz and al Kurdi in Baalbek. Habib remains at large. His identification is not entirely settled. The London-based, Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily Asharq al Awsat identified “Sajed” as “Ibrahim Hussein,” while the Lebanese news website Asas Media reported that investigators had narrowed the possible identities of “Sajed” and “Dhulfiqar,” but that their identification as Habib and Sabouri might not be completely accurate.
• Bilal Fadl Sabouri, alias “Dhulfiqar:” Allegedly designated to receive the explosives in Msharafieh, in Beirut’s southern suburbs. His birth year has not been publicly reported. Sabouri remains at large. As with Habib, Asas Media cautioned that attributing the alias to his full identity might not be completely accurate.
• Mohammad Safi Ayyoub, born in 1989: Allegedly traveled in a vehicle accompanying the explosives shipment. He remains at large. Prosecutors accuse Ayyoub and three other defendants of facilitating the alleged crimes by providing transportation or communications.
• Mohammad Haidar Zeaiter, born in 1998: Allegedly accompanied Ayyoub in the vehicle traveling with Amhaz and al Kurdi. He remains at large and is among those accused of facilitating the operation through transportation or communications.
• Mohammad Abdullah Hazimeh, born in 1983: Identified in Lebanese reporting as the owner of the vehicle used to transport the explosives. He remains at large and is also among the defendants accused of providing transportation or communications for the operation.
• Yelena Krishinova, born in 1987: A Russian national and Amhaz’s wife. She remains at large. Prosecutors included her among the four defendants accused of facilitating the alleged offenses through transportation or communications, though publicly available reporting does not establish her precise role.
• Abdel Muttalib Nassar, alias “Abu Haidar,” born in 1974: Initially one of the defendants known only by an alias. Army Intelligence subsequently established what it said was his full identity, and Ghanem filed supplementary charges against him on November 2. Public reporting has not yet specified Nassar’s alleged operational role.
• “Abu Turab,” also known as “Al Qasir al Aqra” (“the short bald man”): Full identity, age, residence, and alleged specific function remain publicly unknown. Al Modon and Asas Media identify the two aliases as referring to the same individual.
• “Al Sayyed:” Full identity and biographical information remain publicly unknown.
• “Alaa:” Full identity and biographical information remain publicly unknown.
• “Abu al Fadl:” Full identity and biographical information remain publicly unknown.

Investigators also examined whether personnel stationed at Dahr al Baidar had facilitated the shipment. Prosecutor General at the Court of Cassation Ahmad Rami al Hajj subsequently ordered one officer and 10 Internal Security Forces personnel released after the service’s investigative and intelligence arm, the Information Branch, found no evidence implicating them in facilitating the shipment.

On October 26, Al Modon reported that the Information Branch had reviewed surveillance footage along the Bekaa-Beirut highway and identified a vehicle allegedly accompanying the explosives-laden Dodge Caravan minivan. According to the newspaper’s security source, the accompanying vehicle traveled ahead, monitoring checkpoints and security deployments, and continued toward Beirut after the Dodge was stopped. Investigators reportedly used the footage to identify its occupants and license plate.

The reported escort operation suggests a wider transport network, with different participants allegedly responsible for supplying the explosives, moving them, monitoring the route, facilitating transportation and communications, and receiving the shipment. However, two judicial sources separately told the Lebanese television channel RED TV that no escort vehicle existed. The prosecution-related reporting has not conclusively resolved that contradiction.

Reporting remains inconsistent over whether the case will ultimately include a 14th defendant. Asas Media reported on November 2 that another alleged Hezbollah member, described as the driver of one of two accompanying vehicles, would be charged, raising the total to 14. Yet the same report counted nine defendants identified by name and four still known only by aliases, for a total of 13. The confirmed November 2 supplementary filing identified Nassar, who had already been included among the original alias-only defendants. The Lebanese daily Al Nahar likewise reported that Ghanem had charged a “ninth participant” after establishing his full identity. No independently confirmed 14th defendant has been identified.

First Military Investigative Judge Ghada Abou Alwan is scheduled to question Amhaz and Kurdi on November 5 before summoning other defendants whose identities are known.

The government leaves a Judicial Council referral unresolved

The investigation has also produced a dispute over which court should handle the case.

On October 21, Al Modon reported that laboratory testing of the Dahr al Baidar explosives and explosives seized by the Lebanese Army near Al Qasr on the Syrian border produced matching results. The report did not publish the laboratory findings, specify which Al Qasr seizure was involved, or explain the nature of the reported match. Consequently, the findings do not publicly establish that the materials originated from the same shipment or supplier.

The following day, Lebanon’s cabinet considered Justice Minister Adel Nassar’s request to transfer the Dahr al Baidar case to the Judicial Council, which hears major cases involving state security. Nassar’s proposal also covered explosives seized at Al Qasr on October 9 and anything the investigation uncovered that was directly or indirectly connected to the seized materials.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam told the cabinet that storing or transporting weapons outside institutions legally authorized to do so violates Lebanese law, regardless of the stated justification. He said such activity threatens public safety and requires investigation and prosecution. Salam also reiterated that the state alone possesses authority over weapons and decisions of war and peace.

The cabinet did not approve an immediate referral. Instead, it decided that investigators should proceed “without any restriction or ceiling other than the law” and that ministers would continue considering Nassar’s request as the investigation progressed. Information Minister Paul Morcos subsequently explained that ministers had debated whether proceedings before the Judicial Council would be faster than those in other courts and discussed legal questions surrounding referral before completion of the investigation. He emphasized that referral had not been ruled out.

The dispute continued after the October 22 meeting. Ministers from the Lebanese Forces, a predominantly Christian political party opposed to Hezbollah, announced they would boycott the October 29 cabinet session after the referral was not placed back on the agenda. They called on President Joseph Aoun and Salam to submit the proposed referral decree to the cabinet for a vote.

The matter remains before the military judiciary following Ghanem’s October 30 charges, which go beyond unauthorized possession or transport of explosives. Al Modon reported that prosecutors invoked Penal Code provisions concerning unlawful associations, violations of state security measures, and actions exposing Lebanon to the danger of hostile acts by a foreign state.

Hezbollah rejected the charges. Hezbollah parliamentarian Hussein al Hajj Hassan said on October 30 that the defendants had been performing a “national duty” defending Lebanon and deserved recognition rather than prosecution. He described the charges as unjust and politically motivated.

David Daoud is Senior Fellow at at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies where he focuses on Israel, Hezbollah, and Lebanon affairs.