On September 3, 2010 a fire broke out following an explosion at a known Hizbullah military site in Shehabiya. Hizbullah operatives immediately cordoned off the area, preventing all access. After extinguishing the fire, the operatives transferred the arms from the shed into other buildings in the village and nearby, removing any incriminating evidence. LAF and UNIFIL were only granted permission to inspect the shed five hours after the incident started. After UNIFIL and LAF departed and under the cover of night, dozens of activists transferred the weapons in trucks to other villages, including one north of the Litani River, all undisturbed by UNIFIL or LAF.
On September 3, 2010, at around 12:45, an explosion occurred at a known Hizbullah weapons storage facility in southern Lebanon. This is the third explosion of its kind just this year. Several people were injured in the explosion. The facility is located in a three-story building, several hundred meters away from a mosque.
The building is a luxurious villa owned by a Hizbullah terrorist in one of the neighborhoods of Al-Shahabiya. This emphasizes the use made by Hizbullah of civilians to hide its activity in southern Lebanon, contradicting UN Security Council Resolution 1701. IDF intelligence, corroborated by Lebanese media, indicates that the site, owned by Wisam Saloum, a senior Hizbullah activist, was known in advance to be used for Hizbullah military purposes and contained arms. The building adjacent to the facility (from the south-west side) was used as a Hizbullah headquarters building up until the Second Lebanon War, during which it was destroyed.
Secondary explosions were heard and a fire broke out, spreading to a nearby grove. Hizbullah operatives sealed off the area, extinguishing the fire and apparently transferring the contents of the shed to the nearby building. In addition, the roof, which was partially blown off by the force of the explosion, was covered with plastic sheets and the floor of the shed was washed down with water. Hizbullah militants prevented the entry of UNIFIL and Lebanese Army Forces on the scene until the evacuation was completed. The weapons were transferred to other Hizbullah centers in nearby villages. Later that night, the IDF updated UNIFIL that trucks had departed from the scene, heading towards north of the Litani River. LAF and UNIFIL failed to inspect the trucks, which continued unhindered to the village of Nabatiya, where the supplies were unloaded at a mosque.
During the past year, several similar incidents of weapon explosions in southern Lebanon have taken place. This increase may be attributed to the low maintenance level of the weaponry in private homes. It should be emphasized that these buildings are located near civilian houses and other public areas (schools, mosques, hospitals etc).
In July 2010, the IDF exposed Hizbullah's vast military apparatus in the village of Al-Hiyam and has emphasized that similar apparatuses exist in all Shiite villages in southern Lebanon (160 villages).