Deep pit discovered in wooded area near Zaatriyeh; source says it has no military purpose

BEIRUT — A deep pit was discovered Sunday in a wooded area between Zaatriyeh and Sabtiyeh, in the Metn district, prompting the Lebanese Army to inspect the site on Monday and deploy equipment to investigate what lies beneath, a military source and the head of Fanar’s municipal police told L’Orient-Le Jour.

Municipal police initially inspected the site before referring the case to the army. Hussein Amhaz, head of Fanar’s municipal police, said the pit appeared to have a small entrance but no exit, meaning it was “not a tunnel,” contrary to reports in local media. The only items found inside the pit, which is 10 to 15 meters deep, were excavation tools. The army’s engineering team subsequently continued the search but found nothing else.

Amid concerns that the pit could be linked to Hezbollah, which has an extensive network of tunnels in southern Lebanon, some of which were blown up by the Israeli army during recent wars, a military source said it was not intended for military use. The concerns were also fueled by Hezbollah’s presence in Zaatriyeh.

Fanar's mayor Michel Salameh told local television channel Al Jadeed later on Monday that the Lebanese's Army Intelligence informed the municipality that the pit's had been dug in a search for gold. "We will work to seal it off," he added.

A source close to Hezbollah, contacted by L’Orient-Le Jour, said the group had nothing to do with the pit.

Earlier Monday, authorities had also considered whether the pit might be linked to drug smugglers seeking to hide drugs or facilitate drug use. Zaatriyeh, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Fanar, has a documented history of armed clashes and drug-related activity.

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Salameh had earlier told local television channel MTV that the pit might have been dug by “smugglers building a route to escape through it.” He also said that the people who first discovered it had seen an elderly man standing nearby. The man fled when they approached and they were unable to catch him.

Although the initial findings did not point to a military purpose, politicians affiliated with parties opposed to Hezbollah suggested the group could be linked to the discovery.

Lebanese Forces MP Melhem Riachi told MTV: "The tunnel in Metn is suspicious, and what happened is definitely not above board. I spoke with the army commander, who will do everything necessary to protect the entire area. We hope those responsible will be arrested."

Meanwhile, Kataeb MP Samy Gemayel wrote on X that he had spoken with "the Minister of Defense this morning and asked him to have the army and security forces conduct a comprehensive sweep of the Roueisat–Jdeideh area and its surroundings, following the discovery of a tunnel in the area," adding that "he agreed to the request."

"A tunnel in Metn, a shipment of explosives in Dahr al-Baidar, and clashes with the Internal Security Forces in Beirut's southern suburbs … These are alarming signs that demand a definitive end to Hezbollah’s parallel arms and military structure across all Lebanese territory," he added.

Earlier this month, Lebanese authorities seized hundreds of kilograms of explosives belonging to Hezbollah on the Dahr al-Baidar road linking Beirut to the Bekaa Valley. After acknowledging ownership of the explosives, Hezbollah said they were intended for use against the Israeli army. Some observers, however, believe they may have been intended for political assassinations.

Just days later, the so-called "Galerie Semaan" affair unfolded in a neighborhood in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold. Security forces were briefly surrounded by armed men during a raid on a pharmaceutical warehouse. Hezbollah subsequently said the raid had been carried out “without observing the mechanism agreed upon between Hezbollah and the security services.” Following the incident, the Lebanese Army began a reinforced deployment in Beirut’s southern suburbs.