The military court questioned five detainees accused of roles in preparations for assassinations and bombings during a Hezbollah memorial event in southern Beirut.
The military court, presided over by Brigadier Wasim Fayad, has been interrogating five detainees classified as dangerous agents in connection with an alleged plot to carry out killings and bombings during a commemoration of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in the southern suburbs. The suspects are accused of supporting an operation allegedly headed by Khaled al-Aidi, described as a Syrian-Ukrainian figure and a senior Mossad operative. Al-Aidi, detained by Hezbollah, escaped after the building housing him was struck in Israeli military operations, fled to the Ukrainian embassy in Beirut, and reportedly left Lebanese territory in April with assistance from a commando unit.
Muhammad Abdallah Saleh, one of the five detainees, testified that he met a person identified as Martin when seeking employment. Martin reportedly proposed meeting him in Vienna in mid-March 2024 to discuss establishing an Airbnb company based on research Saleh had conducted. Saleh said he received payment through bank transfers and cryptocurrency for this work, though he stated he had no security expertise and entertained no suspicions about Martin or the money transfers.
Saleh later recanted earlier statements he had given to the General Security directorate, telling the court that he had made those claims under torture. He said he had described meeting Martin, receiving instructions to return to Lebanon after a September pager operation, and being asked to rent a warehouse in al-Naqash. According to his court testimony, he equipped the warehouse with office furniture, phones, and a motorcycle purchased from a showroom near the Corniche al-Mazraa, all at Martin's request.
In the warehouse, Saleh said, he stored five activated phone lines intended for use by people Martin said would arrive for the project. When asked about a person called Abu Ahmad, Saleh testified that Martin contacted him in September 2024 to say Abu Ahmad would represent the company and work from the warehouse. Saleh said Martin later told him Abu Ahmad had disappeared and stopped answering calls, causing them to lose money. Saleh claimed he did not know whether Abu Ahmad came to Lebanon and did not meet him or know his full name.
Saleh denied knowledge of a person named Yahya, whose name appeared written on a glasses holder at the warehouse, and said he had never received any dead drops or packages from anyone by that name. He stated the total money he received ranged between twenty and thirty thousand dollars, including travel bookings and related expenses, and denied receiving any sums through dead drops near his home or collecting any boxes. In August 2024, Saleh said he came to Lebanon and stayed in his hometown of Sultan Yaaqub without using his work phone, and he denied discussing any matters concerning the Islamic group with Martin.
Detainee Imran Shibili testified that fugitive Ahmad Younes is his relative and had rented a warehouse in Doha Aarmoun for storing food supplies. Shibili said he worked as a driver for Younes's wife when she visited Lebanon. According to his testimony, Younes once asked him to go to Monot Street to collect a red Ranger jeep as a gift for his wife, and Shibili explained that he had switched his phone to flight mode because his wife was calling frequently and he wanted to surprise her with the vehicle. During an incident on November 18 when the jeep was seen at Zaqaq al-Balat, Shibili said Younes asked him to precede him to the warehouse to park the Ranger, but the vehicle broke down en route.
Shibili testified that while accompanying Younes, he received calls from a person named Adam, and Younes would ask him to leave the vehicle during these calls. On another occasion, Younes asked him to meet someone in the Jandulien area, where he received a box. Out of curiosity, Shibili opened it and found a bag containing powder. He stated that Younes paid him only for petrol and no other sums. Detainee Ahmad Ghassane testified that Younes, his relative, regularly visited the bakery he owns, driving the Ranger jeep. Ghassane said Younes once asked him to take the vehicle to a friend in Jounieh, but that person did not show up, so Younes asked him to park it with the keys under the pedal, which he did.
Ghassane added that Younes later mentioned that a warehouse he had rented in Doha Aarmoun was raided and found empty. He then said the warehouse had contained a battery for the Ranger and a welding machine. The warehouse keys were with the caretaker, who lost them, prompting the locks to be changed. Ghassane kept the warehouse keys from September 3 until September 25, the date of the raid. Detainee Ibrahim al-Ali testified that a person named Fadi Hadid sent him a message asking him to search for a carob molasses importer and shipping companies in exchange for five hundred dollars.
Al-Ali said Hadid asked him to study motorcycles his friend intended to buy, so al-Ali collected photos at his request and Hadid sent him twelve hundred dollars in two instalments. When Hadid asked him to conduct a deep psychological test and meet with a girl, al-Ali said he grew suspicious. Regarding the Ranger vehicle, al-Ali testified that he brought it from an area near Golden Beach during the events and Hadid asked him to move it to Ashrafieh. Al-Ali paid the showroom owner one thousand dollars and kept two thousand dollars for himself as compensation.
On his earlier statements that he suspected Fadi, his friend Adnan, and a girl named Layla were working for an Israeli security service, al-Ali testified that Fadi had told him that someone named Adnan would contact him. He said he had questions when offered contact with Layla. According to his testimony, Adnan asked him to buy three phones not in his name and place them in the Ranger vehicle. Al-Ali stated he does not know the other detainees and that his wife Layan Mustafa was detained with him because investigators found nothing against her. In testimony, Layan Mustafa confirmed that her husband brought the Ranger to the house and she photographed it, but she denied his claim to her that nothing was frightening because the Israeli was not asking him to do anything dangerous, saying he had never made that statement and that she was very afraid.
