A Lebanese man has gone on trial in Celle, northern Germany, accused of being a member of Hezbollah – a Shia Muslim group whose military wing is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the EU.
The 35 year-old man, named only as Fadel Z, in line with German privacy laws, is charged with having played a key role in procuring products for Hezbollah’s drone programme.
The German Federal Prosecutor’s Office said Fadel Z joined Hezbollah more than 10 years ago, first working in public relations.
In a statement, prosecutors said Fadel Z became a “foreign operator” for the group’s drone programme in 2022, first from Barcelona in Spain. In the summer of 2023, he started working from Germany.
According to the statement by prosecutors, Hezbollah has been running “an extensive drone programme for some time”.
Following Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel, prosecutors said Hezbollah had “systematically fired rockets and explosive-laden drones at both military and civilian targets in Israel”.
“By June 2024, it had built up an arsenal of over 10,000 [drone] units.”
To procure such drones “the organisation employs foreign operatives who covertly purchase components in Europe and export them to Lebanon”, prosecutors said.
Fadel Z is accused of purchasing materials and products for drone construction worth around €1.4m (£1.2m), until he was arrested in July 2024.
The products came from companies in Europe, China and the US.
According to prosecutors, these included more than 2,000 petrol and electric motors, and over 600 propellers.
Fadel Z is said to have often used front companies registered in his own name or that of his contacts to place orders. Suppliers were also paid via these companies.
Prosecutors say he also arranged for the goods to be transported to Lebanon – where the group is based – either by container ship from ports in Hamburg or Spain or by air freight.
Two of the engines purchased by Fadel Z were used in explosive drones that Hezbollah fired at Israel, they added.
One of the drones was flown into a retirement home in the town of Herzliya, near Tel Aviv, on the night of 11 October 2024, the Jewish Holy Day of Yom Kippur.
Although the explosive device detonated inside the building, none of the 200 or so residents was injured.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office said it considered this to be aiding and abetting attempted murder.
The trial at the regional court in Celle is expected to last until August next year.
Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalated after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israeli positions the day after Hamas’s attacks on Israel in October 2023, saying it was acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah fought an escalating conflict for 13 months. It culminated in an intense Israeli bombing campaign and ground incursion into southern Lebanon in October.
Lebanese authorities said Israel’s attacks killed about 4,000 people there – including many civilians – and led to the displacement of more than 1.2 million residents. Israeli authorities said more than 80 of its soldiers and 47 of its civilians were killed in the hostilities.