Lebanon opens its airport to diplomats and journalists to refute charges that Hezbollah is storing weapons
On Sunday, the British newspaper The Telegraph published a report in which it quoted “informants from the airport” as saying they were concerned about the increase in weapons supplies on direct flights from Iran. They said they noticed the arrival of “unusually large boxes” and an increasing presence of high-ranking Hezbollah leaders at the airport.
The Lebanese authorities strongly denied the accusations, which came against the backdrop of serious fears that the escalation that has been ongoing for more than eight months between Hezbollah and Israel would slide into a wide-scale war in light of mutual threats.
Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamiyah stressed to reporters from Rafic Hariri International Airport, in the presence of a number of his colleagues and diplomats from several countries, that “our airport meets all international standards.”
He considered that publishing the report aims to “discredit” the airport and cause “moral harm” to the Lebanese, denouncing what he described as “written psychological warfare.”
There was no official comment from Hezbollah about the content of the report.
Diplomats and dozens of journalists toured two centers belonging to the two companies operating ground services. AFP reporters saw inside them large boxes packed with scanning equipment.
An administrative official at the airport confirmed to reporters in front of the center responsible for providing services to Iranian aircraft that “all aircraft cargo is subject to inspection, including Iranian aircraft.”
The Director General of Civil Aviation, Fadi Al-Hassan, stressed in statements to Agence France-Presse on the sidelines of the tour that “all aircraft arriving at the airport are subject to the same customs procedures,” explaining that “anyone can view the load of each aircraft that arrived at the airport, whether Iranian or otherwise.”
Since Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged cross-border bombing on an almost daily basis.
Last week witnessed an increase in the level of exchange of threats between the two parties, against the backdrop of the killing of a prominent leader of the party in an Israeli strike.
The Israeli army announced on Tuesday “the approval of operational plans for an attack on Lebanon,” while the party’s Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, warned the next day that no place in Israel “will not be immune” from his party’s missiles in the event of a war.
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