BEIRUT: Lebanon’s judiciary has charged two anti-Hezbollah activists in absentia with inciting Israeli attacks against the Iran-backed group and sentenced them to 15 years in prison, a judicial official told AFP on Friday.
It is the harshest sentence yet against activists expressing support for Israel, which has officially been at war with Lebanon for decades.
The official, who requested anonymity, said the two individuals, Ahmed Yassine and Joumana Gebara, both living outside Lebanon, were charged with “collaborating with Israel and inciting it to continue its military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon” by the military tribunal in a trial that began in November 2024.
Yassine, a Paris-based university professor, is accused of “inciting the Israeli army to bomb the historic Baalbek Citadel by disseminating information claiming that the citadel housed Hezbollah weapons depots.”
Yassine also has a YouTube channel where he shares political commentary to more than 140,000 subscribers.
Gebara is accused of “praising Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee and thanking him for the bombings of Lebanon, as well as calling for normalization with Israel” during the previous Israel-Hezbollah war in 2024, the official said.
Lebanon has no formal ties with Israel, and any contact is punishable by imprisonment.
It has previously arrested people accused of spying for Israel.
Lebanon was drawn into the wider Middle East war when Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2 to avenge the February 28 killing of Iran’s supreme leader.
More than 3,500 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since then, according to Lebanese authorities.
Lebanon sentences activists in absentia for inciting Israeli attacks
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Lebanon sentences activists in absentia for inciting Israeli attacks
- Ahmed Yassine and Joumana Gebara, both living outside Lebanon, were charged with “collaborating with Israel and inciting it to continue its military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon”
