A Lebanese judge has begun legal proceedings against four Hezbollah members for weapons offences, a judicial official told AFP on Monday, after authorities recently banned the Iran-backed group's military and security activities.
Lebanese authorities have been seeking to pressure Hezbollah after Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when the Tehran-backed group's attack on Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.
The judicial official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity, that two of the four Hezbollah members "were arrested while transporting rockets towards south Lebanon", while the others were found in possession of "unlicenced military weapons".
The judge has referred the case "to the first investigating judge in Beirut... requesting they be questioned and arrest warrants issued", the official added.
Earlier this month, three Hezbollah members were released on bail of around $20 after being questioned in the military court over the alleged possession of unlicensed military weapons, in a move that sparked controversy and anger.
Beirut banned Hezbollah's military and security activities this month after its attack on Israel triggered the latest war.
Israel has since launched broad air raids on its northern neighbour and ground incursions into border areas, and its army said on Monday that it had begun "targeted ground operations against key Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon".
Last year in the wake of a 2024 ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanese authorities committed to disarming the group, and the army had been doing so in the area near the Israeli border before the latest hostilities erupted.
AFP
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