BEIRUT — Lebanon's Council of Ministers on Thursday postponed a decision on referring the seized Hezbollah explosives case to the Judicial Council until investigations are concluded, after a session at Baabda Palace that lasted about four hours, Naharnet reported.

Source: Naharnet / L'Orient Today via NewsCord, Oct 23, 2026

Information Minister Paul Marqous said the Cabinet did not rule out referring the explosives truck case to the Judicial Council as investigations progress, and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam framed the issue as a matter of the state's monopoly on weapons, saying those principles are no longer subject to debate, according to reporting summarised by NewsCord from Naharnet and L'Orient Today.

Source: Naharnet / L'Orient Today via NewsCord, Oct 23, 2026

The case involves a shipment intercepted on October 5 at the Dahr al-Baidar checkpoint while being transported toward Beirut's southern suburbs, L'Orient Today reported. Judicial officials told the Associated Press the vehicle carried 780 kilograms of explosives, including TNT and C4, and that two people were detained, Ya Libnan reported.

Source: Ya Libnan, Oct 23, 2026

Hezbollah has said the seized explosives belonged to it and were intended for use against the Israeli military in southern Lebanon — a claim reported in earlier coverage of the seizure. The government has banned military activities outside the state framework since March 2026, according to that coverage.

Source: Naharnet / L'Orient Today via NewsCord, Oct 23, 2026

Justice Minister Adel Nassar told Asharq al-Awsat the investigation is ongoing and expanding, with no ceiling and no political interference, and that the file must be referred to the Judicial Council because transporting and storing a large quantity of explosives endangers populated areas and is linked, in his words, to suspicions of assassinations, domestic bombings or acts of war, Ya Libnan reported.

Source: Ya Libnan, Oct 23, 2026

Nassar said the Council of Ministers is clear in its decisions prohibiting military and armed acts outside the state framework, and that use of the explosives either inside Lebanon or in military actions that create pretexts for Israeli wars against Lebanon would infringe national security and violate the law, Ya Libnan reported.

Source: Ya Libnan, Oct 23, 2026

Lebanese Forces ministers withdrew from the Baabda session because the case was not referred, Al-Jadeed TV reported via Ya Libnan. After the session, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea called on President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Salam to refer the case to the Judicial Council and to arrest Hezbollah officials linked to the seized explosives, calling it a threat to national security, civil peace and the authority of the state.

Source: Ya Libnan, Oct 23, 2026

L'Orient Today reported that judges told President Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Salam that an immediate referral could undermine the proper conduct of the investigation — a caution that helped shape the decision to postpone rather than drop the referral.

Source: Naharnet / L'Orient Today via NewsCord, Oct 23, 2026

President Aoun warned of a possible escalation in regional tensions and hoped the situation would not deteriorate into an escalation or explosion, according to the NewsCord summary of the session. The Cabinet also decided to continue investigating the explosives file and announced appointments to the board of the Railway and Public Transport authority.

Source: Naharnet / L'Orient Today via NewsCord, Oct 23, 2026