Hezbollah using maritime smuggling route for weapons, funds from Iran – report
Saudi site says terror group has been asserting control over Beirut port, using it as main smuggling artery amid crackdowns by Lebanon, Syria and Israel
Hezbollah has reportedly shifted to using a sea-based route for smuggling weapons into Lebanon, after its overland and air conduits were largely shut down due to Israeli attacks, the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and crackdowns on smuggling by the Lebanese government.
According to a Tuesday report in the Saudi al-Hadath news outlet, citing a Western official, the Iran-backed terror group has begun reasserting control over Beirut’s seaport, which was largely destroyed in 2020, when ammonium nitrate stored at the site caught fire, causing a gargantuan blast that killed hundreds and caused damage across the Lebanese capital.
Attempts to investigate Hezbollah’s role in storing the explosives at the civilian site have been repeatedly stymied by politicians and other figures connected to the terror group.
The Western source quoted in the report expressed fears that Hezbollah’s resumed use of the port could put its operations in danger as the country attempts to recover from Israel’s military campaign against the Iranian proxy last year.
According to the source, Hezbollah has been able to assert control over the port through a network of collaborators among dock workers and customs agents, who are able to bypass government oversight and smuggle funds and weapons into the country without being checked.
The report added that Iran is relying on the maritime route to support Hezbollah, as previous smuggling routes, largely through Syria, have been shut down since the beginning of the year.
Iran’s use of Syria as an overland route to smuggle weapons is thought to have ended with the fall of Assad late last year.
Since Syria’s new government took control in December, its forces have stopped a number of attempts to smuggle weapons across the border into Lebanon, seizing firearms, explosives, ammunition and RPG launchers.
Lebanon’s government, which has begun to assert renewed control over the country after Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah crippled the terror group and killed nearly all of its top leaders, has also stopped several smuggling attempts into the country, seizing arms and money both at the Syria border and at the Beirut international airport.
Lebanese authorities have forced flights from Iran to turn around midflight after Israeli forces alerted them to intelligence that they were being used to smuggle money and arms, and even detained an Iranian diplomat in January after receiving a tip that the commercial flight he was on was being used to transfer funds to Hezbollah.
According to reports in Lebanon, the plane was delayed upon arrival in Beirut, was forced to be searched bag by bag, and the Iranian diplomat was held by customs agents for refusing to allow his belongings to be searched.
One report said the contents of the diplomat’s bag were confiscated by Lebanese authorities after large amounts of cash were found in his belongings, but Iran insisted the funds were solely intended for use at the Iranian embassy, and thus were protected under international law. There was no further information on what security services found in their search of the plane.
Israel has also used force to stop smuggling into Lebanon, repeatedly striking Syria-Lebanon border crossings that it says have been key to the terror groups’ funding and weapons supply.
The IDF has also targeted several senior members of Hezbollah’s Unit 4400, which is responsible for transporting and smuggling Iranian weapons into Lebanon.
Hezbollah began attacking across the border on October 8, 2023, the day after allied Palestinian terror group Hamas led a massive invasion of southern Israel in which it killed some 1,200 and took 251 hostages.
Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks forced the evacuation of 60,000 northern residents, killed dozens of people and caused significant damage. Israel hit back with airstrikes, and by September, the conflict escalated into open war, during which Israel decimated Hezbollah’s leadership and stockpiles. The war ended in a late November ceasefire, which has largely held despite mutual accusations of violations.
Under the agreement, Israeli forces were to withdraw from southern Lebanon while Hezbollah was to remove its military infrastructure from the area. Troops remain in five points deemed “strategic” by the Israeli military.
The Times of Israel Community.