Army intervention in a 'training camp' in Choueifat, SSNP calls it a 'misunderstanding'

BEIRUT — The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) responded Sunday, in a statement, to reports published by several Lebanese media outlets over the weekend about an army raid on what was described as a training camp for armed party militants in Choueifat, (south of Beirut,) describing a "misunderstanding" and insisting that the site in question was merely a "scout camp."

The Al-Jadeed channel reported Saturday that a unit of the Lebanese Army raided an SSNP training camp in the town of Choueifat, arrested several people and seized weapons, communications equipment and military uniforms.

However, according to the SSNP, "the site entered by the army is private property used for educational activities that have been organized for several years during the summer, with the participation of young people and students." The group, which is close to Hezbollah and the former Syrian Assad regime, insists that "there is no party camp or military training at this site."

Claims regarding a "training camp" are entirely false, according to the party, which says it is "agricultural land that contains no military infrastructure or facility." On Saturday evening, the head of the SSNP's information office, Maher al-Dana, told Al-Jadeed that it is a "scout camp."

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In a statement relayed by the state-run National News Agency (NNA,) the SSNP attributed the army’s intervention to a "misunderstanding," saying the army had received "information regarding gunfire in the area" which led it to go to the scene and "search the place," before realizing the mistake, according to the party.

Several suspects arrested in Choueifat

The army has yet to comment on the matter and will do so once the "investigations launched" are complete, according to a source within the force contacted by our publication.

Another military source adds that "a number of people were arrested for their suspicious presence in the Choueifat camp," but that "the majority were released for lack of evidence of activity of a security nature." She adds that "three people are still detained: two of them were already wanted for firing guns into the air, and a third who possessed an unlicensed shotgun."

Whether or not it was a misunderstanding, this army raid comes in a sensitive political and security context.

On Friday, the government approved the plan presented by the army to disarm militias across the country, starting with Hezbollah, which continues to refuse to surrender its weapons.

Severely weakened by its latest war with Israel, Hezbollah is under pressure from Lebanese authorities, its political opponents in Lebanon, and the international community to disarm.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army continues to bomb South Lebanon and the Bekaa, in violation of the cease-fire in effect since November 2024. Some Palestinian factions in several camps, also affected by the authorities’ decision to restore the state's monopoly on arms, have begun to hand over their weapons.