📰 3 sources 6 articles · 3 Nov 2026, 06:22 → 9 days ago

Dahr al-Baydar explosives file: charges against 13 people and a dispute over referral to the Judicial Council

This story concerns a truck loaded with explosives seized in the Dahr al-Baydar area early last month, over which the Government Commissioner at the Military Court, Judge Claude Ghanem, charged 13 people. The judicial investigation is running alongside a political dispute over referring the file to the Judicial Council, with the Lebanese Forces ministers insisting on boycotting cabinet sessions until that referral happens, while Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stressed that the state's exclusive monopoly on weapons is the basis of the state's existence.

📍 Where things stand: Prosecutor General Ahmad Rami al-Hajj announced the conclusion of the Information Branch's preliminary investigations and received its reports for referral to Judge Claude Ghanem, while the question of referring the file to the Judicial Council remains disputed and the ministers' boycott continues.

⏱️ Timeline

3 Nov 2026, 06:22 Sources cited by Nidaa al-Watan reported that the Lebanese Forces ministers are maintaining their position of boycotting cabinet sessions unless the Dahr al-Baydar explosives file is referred to the Judicial Council.
3 Nov 2026, 06:26 The file of the explosives seized at Dahr al-Baydar moved to judicial prosecution after the Government Commissioner at the Military Court, Judge Claude Ghanem, charged 13 people, amid a dispute over referring the file to the Judicial Council. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam affirmed that the state's exclusive monopoly on weapons is the basis of the state's existence, in the context of the cabinet decision of 2 March 2026 banning Hezbollah's military and security activity and obliging it to hand over its weapons; the articles also cited a statement by Hezbollah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan on 30 October 2026 and a speech by Mufti Ahmad Qabalan on 1 November.
3 Nov 2026, 16:19 Prosecutor General Ahmad Rami al-Hajj concluded the preliminary investigations conducted by the Information Branch of the Internal Security Forces in the Dahr al-Baydar explosives truck file, and received the investigation reports covering technical aspects including surveillance cameras and the contents of the phones of three of the defendants, to refer them to the Government Commissioner at the Military Court, Judge Claude Ghanem, in conjunction with the file in which he had already pressed charges.
4 Nov 2026, 07:21 An MTV report said the explosives truck seized at Dahr al-Baydar was not an isolated incident but part of a logistical pattern adopted by Hezbollah since May, involving drone and explosives shipments along land and sea routes. According to Israeli, American and Lebanese intelligence reports, between 12 and 22 August shipments of electro-optical guidance devices and signal receivers for FPV drones crossed through the Masnaa crossing, and between 25 and 29 August materials containing nitroglycerin and explosive components were transported.

Timeline written by AI from the sources below; updated as new reports arrive.

How the sources covered it

One source focused on the governmental and political dimension through the Lebanese Forces ministers' boycott of cabinet sessions, while MTV's coverage addressed the judicial path and political positions along with a broader account of earlier shipments based on intelligence reports; the third source confined itself to a brief note that the investigation is being pursued before the military judiciary.

Lebanon ON It led with the Lebanese Forces ministers' boycott of cabinet sessions and tied it to the condition of referring the Dahr al-Baydar explosives file to the Judicial Council, citing sources for the newspaper Nidaa al-Watan, without judicial details on the charges or the detainees.
MTV Lebanon It covered the case through analytical and reporting pieces focused on Judge Claude Ghanem's charging of 13 people, the dispute over referral to the Judicial Council, and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam's positions, as well as an account of a broader pattern of shipments based on Israeli, American and Lebanese intelligence reports.
lebanon debate It offered only a brief note that the investigation threads in the Dahr al-Baydar explosives file are being pursued before the military judiciary, without details on the circumstances of the seizure, the detainees or the course of the investigation.

AI comparison of what each outlet emphasized. It describes emphasis, not accuracy.

Lebanon ONMTV Lebanonlebanon debate