HEZBOLLAH ALLEGEDLY STORING IRANIAN WEAPONS AT BEIRUT AIRPORT, WHISTLEBLOWERS CLAIM

Mon 24 June 2024:

Lebanese whistleblowers have accused Hezbollah of using Beirut’s international airport to store large quantities of Iranian weapons, according to a report by The Telegraph on Sunday.

The report claims that the Iran-backed group is storing various weapons at Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport, including ballistic missiles, unguided artillery rockets, and laser-guided anti-tank missiles. Additionally, a highly explosive and toxic substance known as RDX is allegedly being stored there.

In response, Hezbollah-affiliated Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamieh held a press conference at the airport, dismissing the allegations as “ridiculous.”

An airport worker told The Telegraph that the weapons arrive on flights from Iran in “mysterious large boxes.”

“When they started to come through the airport, my friends and I were scared because we knew that there was something strange going on,” he said, adding that the situation was “extremely serious.”

According to the whistleblowers, the shipments from Iran have increased dramatically since the start of the war in Gaza, leading to fears that the airport could become a military target if war erupted between Israel and Hezbollah.

“If they keep bringing in these goods I’m not allowed to check, I really believe I’ll die from the explosion or I’ll die from Israel bombing ‘the goods,’” one of the whistleblowers said. “It’s not just us, it’s the ordinary people, the people coming in and out, going on holiday. If the airport is bombed, Lebanon is finished.”

One of the whistleblowers also said he sees Wafiq Safa, a top Hezbollah commander and interlocutor with Lebanese security forces, come to customs frequently since October 7, and that he has close ties with the customs managers.

“I feel like if we don’t do what they say, our families will be in danger,” the whistleblower said.

The Hezbollah lawmaker said at the airport Sunday that his office was in the process of filing a lawsuit against The Telegraph over the report, adding that details of the lawsuit would be “announced later.”

Hamieh invited journalists and ambassadors to take a tour of the airport’s facilities on Monday morning, to prove that “there is nothing to hide,” Lebanese media quoted the minister as saying.

Israel has in the past accused Iran of using direct flights to Lebanon to transfer equipment and arms to Hezbollah and also said the group hides underground precision missile production facilities close to Beirut’s international airport.

Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.

So far, the skirmishes on the border have resulted in 10 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 15 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.

Hezbollah has named 349 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 64 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have been killed.

Netanyahu says intense fighting coming to an end, Gaza war to continue