Netanyahu Warns UN of Second Beirut Explosion

Almost two months after the Beirut explosion in Lebanon that killed 200 people and caused incalculable devastation for thousands of families, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented satellite images to the United Nations showing that it could happen again, and soon. The images presented were of another area on the coast of Lebanon, where warehouses filled with explosive materials similar to the first explosion could be seen right next to packed civilian neighborhoods, gas companies, and Beirut’s international airport. At the end of his presentation, he addressed the Lebanese people saying “You’ve got to act now, you’ve got to protest this because if this thing explodes, it’s another tragedy.”

In response to these accusations, Hezbollah’s Secretary General Nassan Nasrallah called the claims of the Prime Minister “Incitement” against the Lebanese government, and stated that  “If there [were] missiles there placed by Hezbollah — even a single rocket — I would not waste a minute before informing you of this matter…we don’t put rockets, not in the Beirut port, not by a gas station. We know very well where to put our weapons.” He also invited reporters to the area later that day to prove that there were no weapons in the facility.

However, many are suspicious of Nasrallah’s claim. It is general knowledge that Hezbollah has interest in both explosives and the Beirut port. And, just last week, a Hezbollah weapons storehouse exploded in a Lebanese village minutes away from the Beirut port called Ain Qana, a major tourist site drawing thousands of visitors a year. Commenting on the issue, a south Lebanon based reporter named Ali al-Amin said “Everyone knows where the weapons are. The issue of these weapons in villages and cities is now an issue of life and death. It is neither justifiable nor acceptable for Hezbollah to consider to store its weapons in such places.”