Tensions continue to mount in Lebanon as Hezbollah challenges Beirut’s authority
Lebanon's Grand Jaafari Mufti issued a statement during his sermon on Friday, insisting that Beirut’s actions against Hezbollah were a threat to Lebanese sovereignty.
Tensions between the Lebanese government and Hezbollah have escalated following the Iran-backed terror group's attempt to obstruct an Internal Security Forces operation to inspect a warehouse storing unregulated cancer drugs, and its supporters protested the seizure of explosives allegedly being trafficked into southern Beirut by the group, according to Lebanese media reports and officials.
Armed men affiliated with Hezbollah surrounded a judicial police patrol vehicle in the Galerie Semaan area on the outskirts of Beirut’s southern suburbs after the Internal Security Forces (ISF) arrived to raid warehouses suspected of storing unlicensed cancer medications. The armed men withdrew after the Lebanese military arrived at the scene.
نفّذت وحدات من الجيش في مدينة بيروت والضاحية الجنوبية تدابير لحفظ الأمن، شملت تسيير دوريات مؤللة وراجلة وإقامة حواجز ظرفية، لملاحقة المطلوبين والمخلين بالأمن. #الجيش_اللبناني #LebaneseArmy https://t.co/2aEJrTWegg https://t.co/h77BkYgHbl
— الجيش اللبناني (@LebarmyOfficial) October 17, 2026
Hezbollah’s political wing subsequently condemned the security forces for carrying out the operation in the area, which it described as outside its Shia stronghold, “without observing the mechanism agreed upon between Hezbollah and the security services.”
According to MTV Lebanon, the ISF had been acting on the orders of Lebanese Attorney-General Ahmad Rami al-Hajj, following a referral from Health Minister Rakan Nasr al-Din, who had insisted that the medications be seized due to the risk of spoilage and their failure to meet health standards
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