Lebanese customs officers have launched a series of raids and arrests in the country’s south after seizing a truckload of smuggled shoes whose logo includes a Star of David, prompting local media to warn of “Israeli goods in the Lebanese market.”
According to the Beirut-based broadcaster Al-Jadeed on Sunday, the Sidon unit of the General Directorate of Customs intercepted a pickup truck loaded with a large quantity of foreign shoes that had been brought into Lebanon illegally.
Five people were subsequently arrested in coordinated operations in Sidon, Wadi al-Zayna, al-Shahabiya, Nabatieh, and Tyre.
Al-Jadeed reported that the authorities broadened their investigation upon discovering "dangerous indications" on the seized goods, suggesting a possible connection to Israel.
The channel's video shows customs officials opening boxes of shoes and zooming in on the brand’s emblem, which features a Star of David.
The detainees are being questioned under the supervision of Lebanon’s military and financial prosecutors, and the case has been referred to the Economy Ministry and to the country’s Israel Boycott Office, which enforces Lebanon’s sweeping ban on dealings with the Jewish state.
According to the reports, officials will be asked to determine whether the logo violates boycott regulations and recommend further action.
Foreign brand, local panic
While Al-Jadeed framed the story under the headline “Israeli goods in the Lebanese market,” Hebrew media noted that the shoes appear to belong to GlobalWin. This Western footwear brand uses a ship’s-wheel-style logo incorporating a Star of David.
The company, which began operating in Europe and later expanded to the United States, markets its products online worldwide.
Lebanese social media users quickly circulated images from the Al-Jadeed segment, with many assuming the logo meant the goods were Israeli. However, online listings and the company’s own descriptions identify GlobalWin as a foreign fashion label with no apparent connection to Israel.
The incident highlights how sensitive Israeli symbols have become in Lebanon after more than a year of cross-border clashes between Israel and Hezbollah, as well as a long-standing legal boycott on any trade or contact with Israel.
Boycott law and previous scandals
Under Lebanon’s boycott regime, products bearing Hebrew writing or symbols associated with Israel are formally barred from entering the country. However, smugglers are known to move goods in and out of Lebanon through Syria and other routes.
Enforcement has been inconsistent, and authorities often publicize seizures to show they are upholding the law.
In July, during a Hezbollah Ashura event in the Dahieh suburb of Beirut, photos circulated online of toffees wrapped in packaging with Hebrew writing.
Lebanese outlets reported that the sweets had likely entered Lebanon via a third country, but the images sparked an outcry and renewed calls to tighten the boycott.
There have also been diplomatic flare-ups over the Star of David itself. Earlier this year, a visiting US envoy drew criticism in Lebanon when she was photographed wearing Star of David jewelry during meetings with Lebanese officials, prompting angry commentary in local media and on social networks.
Smuggling and symbolism
Hebrew media reported that the latest shoe shipment appears to be part of a broader smuggling problem into Lebanon, which has intensified amid the country’s economic collapse.
In recent months, Lebanese outlets, including Al-Jadeed, have reported on illicit flows of food, fuel, and other goods across the Syrian border, often at prices far below official market rates.
But unlike tomatoes or fuel, the small logo on the seized shoes instantly turned a routine smuggling case into a political story.
Lebanese authorities now have to decide whether a foreign brand’s emblem that features a Star of David is enough to trigger the country’s boycott laws, or whether the panic reflects more about Lebanon’s fraught relationship with Israel than about the origin of the shoes themselves.
Israeli officials did not immediately comment on the Lebanese reports.