On 14 February 2005, Rafik Hariri was assassinated in a suicide truck bomb explosion in Beirut.
Four Hezbollah members of Unit 121 were indicted for the assassination and were tried in absentia by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
Salim Ayyash, the unit’s leader was convicted for his role in the assassination. The Tribunal eventually convicted three Hezbollah members before it’s closure in 2023, but stated that it could find no evidence that the bombing had been directed by the group’s senior leadership.
The assassination was a catalyst for dramatic political change in Lebanon. The massive protests of the Cedar Revolution helped achieve the withdrawal of Syrian troops and security forces from Lebanon and a change in government.