On October 5, Lebanese security forces stopped a minivan at a checkpoint in Dahr el-Baydar, between the Bekaa Valley and the Mount Lebanon region, and found it carrying hundreds of kilos of explosive materials, including TNT and C-4, according to Lebanese officials.
On Thursday, Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said the explosives belonged to the group, which had demanded their return along with the release of the two people detained in the vehicle. "From the moment the vehicle was detained, the relevant bodies within [Hezbollah] immediately contacted the security and judicial agencies and informed them that the vehicle and its cargo belonged to the resistance," he said in a statement.
Fadlallah said the explosives were for use against Israel, which continues to occupy large parts of southern Lebanon, not internally against the Lebanese government or other factions, as some political figures and analysts have suggested. "We therefore warn the [Lebanese] authorities of the consequences of continuing to escalate their measures," he said, adding that Hezbollah "will not tolerate any targeting by any party implementing American demands against our resistance."
Many of Hezbollah's political opponents, who blame the Iranian-backed group for carrying out assassinations in the past, fear the smuggled explosives will be turned against its detractors. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam pointed out that C-4 explosives had been used in previous assassinations, although investigators have not established that the seized shipment was intended for such an attack. Hezbollah has never admitted carrying out assassinations despite repeated accusations against it, including the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.
The standoff has deepened political divisions. On March 2, after Hezbollah responded to ongoing Israeli attacks for the first time in over a year, in retaliation for the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Salam's government banned the group's military activities. His coalition includes two Hezbollah ministers who opposed the decision, and the group has repeatedly defied it by continuing to fight Israel.
Fighting has largely subsided since June, when Beirut and Tel Aviv signed a US-administered trilateral framework agreement under which pilot zones would be established in a phased process for Israel to eventually withdraw its troops and for the Lebanese Army to disarm Hezbollah. The programme has faced complications.