Lebanese security forces seized weapons, explosives, communications equipment, and maps from an apartment and commercial warehouse in Beirut belonging to a Hezbollah member, renewing scrutiny of the group’s security presence in the capital. The discovery comes as the state seeks to enforce its monopoly on arms and implement a decision to make Beirut free of any armed presence outside state institutions. The apartment was raided after its owner, identified as H.J., opened fire on his father-in-law’s home during a family dispute in Beirut’s Ras al-Nabaa district, wounding his wife’s sister. A judicial source said the Internal Security Forces’ Information Branch raided the apartment under judicial orders after the incident, which occurred at around 5 a.m. on Wednesday. Officers found assault rifles, detonators, explosives and rocket-propelled grenade rounds during the arrest and search, the source told Asharq Al-Awsat. They also raided a commercial warehouse belonging to the suspect, where they seized mobile phones, digital video recorders containing surveillance footage, and maps of streets in Ras al-Nabaa and other Beirut neighborhoods. Documents found in the apartment showed that the detainee belonged to Hezbollah, and he acknowledged his membership during preliminary questioning. The Information Branch began questioning him and another person who worked at the warehouse, according to the judicial source. The investigation is examining why the weapons, explosives and rocket-propelled grenades were being stored and how they were intended to be used. “Regardless of the responsibility arising from the possession of unlicensed weapons, it is necessary to determine why these weapons were kept in a densely populated residential area,” the source said. The case extends beyond its criminal dimension and poses a challenge to the state and to a government decision issued on March 2 banning any military or security activity by Hezbollah. It also comes amid growing official calls to remove all illegal weapons from the capital. The investigation remains at an early stage, and its findings will determine whether the case is limited to the illegal possession of weapons and explosives or points to an organized security plan that requires broader prosecutions, the judicial source said. The incident also provides an indication of Hezbollah’s remaining security and logistical presence in Beirut. Less than two months ago, an armed clash in the Aisha Bakkar district wounded several people. The fighting involved members of Hezbollah’s Resistance Brigades and the Islamic Group, despite the latter having moved closer to Hezbollah and joined it on the “Gaza support front” in 2024. A security source said that despite a relative decline in Hezbollah’s influence in several areas, including Beirut, after the wars of 2024 and 2026, security information showed that the group continued to maintain significant security and logistical structures. “The seizure of weapons, explosives and rocket-propelled grenades inside a residential apartment in a densely populated area heightens security concerns and adds to the burdens facing the army and security agencies,” the source told Asharq Al-Awsat. “It also raises legitimate questions about the motives and circumstances behind storing weapons and explosives in the area.”
