Lebanon's Justice Minister Adel Nassar has pledged that an expanding investigation into a seized shipment of Hezbollah explosives will proceed without limits, as he presses for the case to be referred to the country's Judicial Council on national security grounds.
Nassar formally requested the cabinet's General Secretariat to place the referral on the agenda for a Thursday meeting chaired by President Joseph Aoun at the presidential palace. If approved by the cabinet, the military judiciary would yield jurisdiction, automatically transferring the case to the Judicial Council, which adjudicates state security matters.
The minister previously raised the issue during a cabinet meeting at the Grand Serail, where he received support from ministers affiliated with the Lebanese Forces. Nassar noted that President Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and the Justice Ministry have committed to ensuring the probe continues without political interference.
Expressing confidence in Court of Cassation Prosecutor General Ahmad Rami al-Hajj and Military Court Government Commissioner Claude Ghanem, Nassar said the transfer would run parallel to the ongoing investigation without obstructing it.
Nassar warned of the severe risks created by moving and storing large volumes of explosives in populated areas. While Hezbollah has maintained the explosives were intended for fighting Israel, Nassar said investigators have yet to establish their purpose and are examining possibilities ranging from military use to internal bombings and assassinations.
“The cabinet has been clear in its decisions prohibiting military and armed activities outside the framework of the state,” Nassar said, warning that unsanctioned military actions threaten state security and risk providing pretexts for Israeli attacks against Lebanon.
Figures aligned with Hezbollah have attacked the proposed referral following criticism by the group's lawmakers after the seizure, but Nassar maintained the matter rests strictly on legal merits. “There is absolutely no political direction being given to the judiciary in this case or any other,” he said, citing government policy that affirms exclusive state control over weapons and decisions on war and peace.
