📰 2 sources 5 articles · 17 Oct 2026, 11:18 → 26 days ago

Judicial orders after gunmen besieged a security patrol in Gallery Sam'an

Gunmen besieged a Central Criminal Investigation Bureau patrol while it was executing a judicial order to seize banned medicines in a warehouse in the al-Zaghoul building in the Gallery Sam'an area of the southern suburb. The Lebanese Army intervened and provided backup, the seizure of the medicines was completed and the warehouse was sealed with red wax, while Public Prosecutor of Cassation Judge Ahmad Rami al-Hajj issued judicial orders to security agencies to identify the obstructers. Hezbollah denied any connection to the warehouse, and Mohammad Naim Qassem likewise denied his family's link to it.

📍 Where things stand: The file is now with the competent security and judicial authorities after the warehouse was sealed with red wax and the seizure of the medicines was completed, while investigations continue to identify the gunmen who obstructed the judicial mission.

⏱️ Timeline

17 Oct 2026, 11:18 Reports said a first judicial action was taken after gunmen besieged a patrol in the Gallery Sam'an area. Public Prosecutor of Cassation Judge Ahmad Rami al-Hajj issued judicial orders to the Intelligence Directorate at Army Command, the Gendarmerie Command and the Judicial Police to carry out investigations and identify the gunmen who obstructed a judicial mission. The case goes back to a raid on a medicine warehouse in the al-Zaghoul building and the seizure of about 1,000 boxes of medicine out of 7,000 that had entered Lebanon under an exceptional decision by the Health Minister banning their sale.
18 Oct 2026, 07:37 A report addressed the Gallery Sam'an incident in the southern suburb, where gunmen besieged a Central Criminal Investigation Bureau patrol while it was executing a judicial order to seize banned medicines, and Public Prosecutor of Cassation Ahmad Rami al-Hajj insisted on completing the raid. Hezbollah denied any connection to the warehouse and linked the problem to the failure to adopt the coordination mechanism.
18 Oct 2026, 11:52 After the gunmen besieged the patrol, the Lebanese Army intervened and provided backup, the seizure of the medicines was completed and the warehouse was sealed with red wax, while Public Prosecutor of Cassation Ahmad Rami al-Hajj had issued orders to the Army's Intelligence Directorate, the Gendarmerie Command and the Judicial Police to identify the gunmen.
18 Oct 2026, 16:27 Mohammad Naim Qassem, son of Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem, categorically denied claims linking his family to the medicine warehouse raided by security agencies in Gallery Sam'an. In a statement he said the claims were false and had no basis in truth, stressing that the file is now with the competent security and judicial authorities, which hold its details and determine responsibilities in accordance with legal procedures.