Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah confirmed that a truck carrying 780 kilograms of TNT and C-4 explosives seized at a Bekaa checkpoint belongs to the group, requesting the return of the shipment and the release of two detainees. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam pledged a full investigation, citing public fears over political assassinations, while U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged President Joseph Aoun not to return the explosives as pressure builds to enforce disarmament.
Hezbollah's acknowledgment and demands
- ▪Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah stated that the seized explosives were intended exclusively for use against Israeli military forces in southern Lebanon, denying domestic assassination plots.
- ▪Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah acknowledged on October 15, 2026, that the seized truck and explosives belonged to the group.
- ▪Hezbollah requested that Lebanese authorities return the seized explosives shipment and immediately release the two detained men.
- ▪A Hezbollah official and a Lebanese security source stated that the seized explosives were intended for use in explosive drones targeting Israeli troops.
Interception of explosives shipments
- ▪Lebanese security forces intercepted three separate shipments of explosives in eastern Lebanon near the border with Syria during October 2026.
- ▪Lebanese authorities arrested two men at the Dahr Al Baidar checkpoint while transporting the seized explosives shipment towards Beirut.
- ▪Lebanese security forces intercepted a truck carrying 780 kilograms of explosives, including 250 kilograms of TNT and 250 kilograms of C-4, at a Bekaa region checkpoint.
Lebanese officials' response to seizure
- ▪Lebanese President Joseph Aoun assured that judicial authorities would show no leniency to offenders involved in the explosives shipment.
- ▪Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam noted public anxiety regarding the seized C-4 explosives due to their historical use in political assassinations in Lebanon.
- ▪Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam vowed to identify all individuals involved in the explosives shipment and reject illegal weapons holdings.
U.S.-Lebanon discussions on the incident
- ▪U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Lebanese President Joseph Aoun not to return the seized explosives to Hezbollah.
- ▪U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged President Joseph Aoun to hold accountable those who ordered, financed, and directed the explosive shipment.
- ▪Lebanese President Joseph Aoun asked U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to pressure Israel to halt attacks on southern Lebanese towns.
Disputes over Hezbollah's disarmament
- ▪Under a U.S.-brokered framework agreement, Lebanon committed to disarm Hezbollah in exchange for a gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.
- ▪Hezbollah has refused to disarm as long as Israeli forces continue to occupy territory and conduct strikes in southern Lebanon.
- ▪The Lebanese government declared all military activities by Hezbollah illegal on March 2, 2026, after Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel.
- ▪Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah stated that the Lebanese government's March 2026 decision banning Hezbollah's military activities was null and void.
Complaint against Lebanese Ambassador
- ▪A complaint was filed against Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh Moawad for calling her Israeli counterpart, Yechiel Leiter, after his son was wounded in a West Bank terror attack.
- ▪State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Claude Ghanem dismissed a complaint filed under Lebanon's 1955 Boycott Law against Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad.
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