Two Lebanese citizens were sentenced to 15 years in absentia, accused of inciting the Israeli military to attack Hezbollah targets, according to one of the individuals charged and comments made by a judicial source to Agence France-Presse.
Ahmad Yassine and Joumana Gebara, both Lebanese citizens living outside the country, were sentenced after a long trial that began in November 2024, when they were accused of “collaborating with Israel and inciting it to continue its military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon,” according to AFP.
Yassine, a professor in Paris, was accused of “inciting the Israeli army to bomb the historic Baalbek Citadel by disseminating information claiming that the citadel housed Hezbollah weapons depots,” while Gebara was said to have praised IDF Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee and thanked him for striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, in addition to calling for normalization.
Yassine, who has a popular YouTube channel, complained after the court’s ruling that Hezbollah should appear before a Lebanese court instead, and suggested that the “terrorist organization” could one day be responsible for his death.
“I expect they may kill me at any moment. I expect that one day I’ll be driving down the road and they’ll block my way. I expect that. And I know that’s what they’re capable of, and I accept that. But I do not accept it coming from someone in a suit,” he said, noting that as a civilian he should not be charged by a military tribunal.
“I’m a civilian. Why am I being tried before a military court? I’m a political analyst and a Lebanese writer living in France, on the other side of the world. All I do is present political and social analysis on my own channel and on other television channels.
“Instead of rewarding me for fighting for this cause and for this country…
“I have lived in France as a political refugee so that the Iranian-backed party in Lebanon wouldn’t kill me. Yet you’ve come to kill me with your rulings. I understand oppression coming from Hezbollah but not from a Lebanese court… unless this is an Iranian court.”
Lebanon banned Hezbollah from bearing arms
While Lebanon banned non-state actors such as Hezbollah from bearing arms in March, military courts have so far issued only light punishments for violations of the new law.
Lebanese media reported in April that the country’s prisons had been cleared of Hezbollah violators after two members of the group were released on bail set at 100 million Lebanese pounds each.
Despite the group violating Lebanese law, its history of killing state officials, and its recent decision to drag the country into a new devastating conflict with Israel in response to the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Beirut has yet to recognize Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
Yassine has not yet responded to The Jerusalem Post’s request for comment.