A Hezbollah supporter, on September 26, 2024, in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Photo Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient-Le Jour
Dozens of armed men, affiliated with Hezbollah, surrounded a judicial police patrol when it arrived to complete its task, before withdrawing after the army arrived at the scene, according to several local media outlets. Agents from the Central Criminal Bureau were intervening at the warehouses of a pharmaceutical company to seize medicines unfit for consumption and not meeting the sanitary requirements for distribution, following a report by Health Minister Rakan Nasreddine.
Several dozen armed individuals then gathered to surround the officers, demanding that the patrol chief withdraw his men. As their number reportedly reached over 100 according to local media, the patrol leader contacted the public prosecutor, who advised him to request reinforcements from the army command and the general directorate of the Internal Security Forces (ISF). The armed militiamen withdrew after a significant reinforcement from the army arrived to support the surrounded patrols.
In a statement published in the evening, the ISF explained that “several youths on motorcycles gathered and attempted to prevent” the officers from searching the warehouse in question. However, the unit was able to “carry out its mission, inspect the warehouse, seize the medicines, and seal the premises.” Contacted by L’Orient Today, neither Hezbollah nor the Lebanese Army were available to comment on the incident.
Why it matters
Tensions between the authorities and Hezbollah have reached a peak in recent days, especially since the seizure last week in Dahr al-Baidar of half a ton of explosives belonging to the party.
Hezbollah acknowledged that the cargo belonged to them, claiming the explosives were intended to be used against Israel. Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah added that the party had requested the “immediate release of those detained” and “the return of the vehicle and its contents.” He also warned against any “attack” on Hezbollah on the internal scene. In a call Thursday to President Joseph Aoun, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it was “out of the question” to return the explosives to Hezbollah.
On Friday, Jaafarite Mufti Ahmad Qabalan lashed out at the government, accusing it of pursuing a policy hostile to southern Lebanon and Hezbollah, and warned that “any mistake concerning the resistance would be tantamount to a declaration of existential war against Lebanon and its sovereignty.”
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced Friday that Qatar will finance, implement and operate a project in Lebanon’s electricity sector without requiring an upfront investment from the Lebanese Treasury. Speaking at a joint press conference in Beirut with his visiting Qatari counterpart, Mohammad bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, Salam said the project would follow a build-operate-transfer (BOT) model. Al-Thani, for his part, said the two countries had agreed to “establish a comprehensive framework for cooperation and propose integrated solutions” in the energy sector through “a major investment project that will benefit the Lebanese economy and participating Qatari parties.”
Earlier in the day, the Qatari prime minister announced that his country's main priority in Lebanon is the energy sector, after a meeting with President Joseph Aoun. Since the end of the Civil War (1975-1990), Beirut has never managed to provide an adequate electricity supply across the country.
- The Saudi-led coalition announced Friday that it had intercepted missiles and drones over Riyadh and other parts of the country, which has been targeted almost daily since early October by pro-Iranian Houthi attacks from Yemen. “We intercepted and destroyed three drones in the south and over Riyadh ... as well as two cruise missiles over the Red Sea,” coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki posted on X, adding that a “ballistic missile” was also intercepted over Yanbu, the kingdom’s main oil terminal on the Red Sea and the world’s top crude exporter.
- French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot is expected in Lebanon on Saturday evening, according to several local media outlets. He is scheduled to hold a series of meetings with officials on Saturday and Sunday.
