Netanyahu | Hezbollah has a weapons depot near fuel depots in Beirut

Defence Redefined

30/09/2020

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today accused Lebanese Hezbollah of having a “secret” weapons depot near “fuel depots” in Beirut, which could cause a “new tragedy” in the event of an explosion.

For the past two years, Israel has accused Hezbollah, Iran’s ally, of turning rockets into precision-guided missiles at various facilities in Lebanon, most notably a facility near Beirut International Airport.

In a speech from Jerusalem to the UN General Assembly today, Netanyahu presented a map showing what he said was a “secret weapons depot” on the southern outskirts of Beirut, a Shiite stronghold near the airport.

These are, according to the Israeli army, precision-guided missiles. He clarified that “this” warehouse was located “one meter” from a “gas company” and fifty meters from a “gas station”.

Referring to the deadly bombing that rocked Beirut in early August, the Israeli prime minister, who is openly at war with Iran and Hezbollah, warned of “another tragedy” in the event of an explosion at the alleged weapons depot.

“I tell the people of the Jnah district (south of Beirut) to act now, to oppose it, because if it explodes it will be another tragedy,” Netanyahu said in English.

“I tell the Lebanese people: Israel does not want your evil, but Iran wants it. Iran and Hezbollah have deliberately put you and your families in serious danger,” he added.

Israel and Lebanon are technically at war, and their common border, patrolled on the Lebanese side by UN forces, remains the scene of sporadic incidents.

Last year, heavy exchanges of fire on the border between the two countries brought to mind the story of one day, the ghost of the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Since the start of the war in Syria, Israel has carried out several airstrikes in that country, specifically targeting Lebanese Hezbollah fighters and Iranian forces backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Source: CNA

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