The indictment will almost surely serve as fodder for both sides in the debate. It relies heavily on phone records and offers circumstantial evidence, but prosecutors acknowledged they have no smoking gun in the case. Hezbollah and Lebanese officials have long said that Israel has penetrated Lebanon’s telecommunications network; two senior employees of one cell phone company were arrested last year for spying.

The tribunal’s prosecutor, Daniel Bellemare, said in a statement that unsealing the 47-page indictment “answers many questions.”…

Hezbollah has contended that the tribunal is a sham, hopelessly manipulated by the United States and Israel, and it has successfully discredited the investigation in the eyes of its supporters and allies. But that sentiment is by no means universal, and supporters of Saad Hariri, the son of the slain prime minister, as well as Hezbollah’s foes here have held up the court as a question of justice, backing both the investigation and its findings.