Lebanon sentences anti-Hezbollah activists to 15 years in absentia for ‘inciting’ IDF action

A Lebanese court has handed down a 15-year prison sentence in absentia to two Lebanese citizens accused of inciting Israeli military action against Hezbollah. Ahmad Yassine, a professor based in Paris, and Joumana Gebara, both living outside Lebanon, were convicted on charges of collaborating with Israel and inciting it to continue military operations. The trial began in November 2024.

Yassine was specifically accused of disseminating information that claimed the historic Baalbek Citadel housed Hezbollah weapons depots, thereby inciting Israeli strikes. Gebara reportedly praised Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee for targeting Hezbollah and advocated for normalization with Israel. These sentences come despite Lebanon's earlier ban on non-state actors like Hezbollah bearing arms.

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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.

Yassine, who operates a popular YouTube channel, voiced strong criticism of the verdict, arguing that Hezbollah itself should face Lebanese courts. He expressed deep concern for his safety, stating he expects Hezbollah to potentially kill him at any moment. Yassine questioned the legitimacy of being tried in a military court as a civilian and suggested the ruling reflected Iranian influence rather than Lebanese justice, especially given his past as a political refugee fleeing persecution from the Iranian-backed party in Lebanon.

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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 the but not from a Lebanese court…unless this is an Iranian court.