No, Israel had not pointed a cache of weapons at the port of Beirut

• The archive dates from two years ago but it is experiencing a resurgence of interest on social networks in the aftermath of the double explosion which left at least 137 dead and 5,000 injured in Beirut. 
• Several Internet users are indeed sharing excerpts from a speech given by Benjamin Netanyahu to the UN General Assembly in September 2018, in which he claimed to show, with satellite photo in support, three secret Hezbollah sites hidden in Beirut. and containing missiles destined for Iran. A sequence which would suggest an Israeli intervention in the tragedy which touched the Lebanese capital.
• But contrary to what these posts claim, these three so-called secret sites were not on the port of Beirut, but near its airport, about nine kilometers from the site of the double explosion. 

While the investigation has yet to determine under what conditions the more than 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in the warehouse at the port of Beirut led to the two explosions which left at least 137 dead and 5,000 injured in the Lebanese capital on Tuesday 4 August, some Internet users have already found a simple explanation for the drama.

According to their theory, relayed on social networks, the explosion would indeed have affected a storage site for missiles manufactured for Iran by Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite movement classified as a "terrorist" organization by Israel. The proof ? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly revealed the exact location as early as September 2018, during a speech at the United Nations General Assembly.

One of the Facebook posts relaying the rumor about Benjamin Netanyahu and the double explosion in Beirut. - screenshot / Facebook

Not to mention that Netanyahu is also said to have made remarks, on the day of the tragedy this time, acknowledging Israel's role in the explosion: “We have hit a cell, and now we are hitting those responsible. We will do whatever is necessary to defend ourselves and I suggest everyone, including Hezbollah, to keep this in mind. "

If all this was needed for the rumor of an Israeli military intervention at the origin of the explosion to spread, it remains unfounded on the basis of these two elements since the location of the supposed caches of the explosion. The Hezbollah weapons mentioned by the Israeli prime minister lie about nine kilometers south of the port of Beirut. As for his statements of August 4, they were made a few hours before the tragedy and concerned a raid carried out by Israel in Syria the day before, contrary to what some Internet users may have believed.

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The intervention of Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations General Assembly, in New York, on September 27, 2018, had marked the spirits, as much by the scope of his accusations against Hezbollah as by the photo demonstration undertaken in the wake to illustrate his comments.

“In Lebanon, Iran has ordered Hezbollah to build secret sites to turn unsuitable projectiles into guided missiles, missiles that can strike Israel deep within 10 meters. Hezbollah is using the innocent inhabitants of Beirut as human shields, ”he told the UN desk, before showing, on a satellite photo (from 17'30 above), the location of these supposed sites. secrets.

“Three of these sites were placed near Beirut International Airport. It is [a hideout in Ouzaï], by the sea, not far from the airport runways, "[a second hidden site] next to the football stadium [and a third ] located directly next to the airport, "he continued during this demonstration, concluded with an unequivocal warning:" I have a message for Hezbollah. Israel knows what you are doing, where you are doing it. do, and Israel won't let you get away with this. ”

The exact location of these supposed missile caches - which Hezbollah at the time described as "lies" - is also even clearer on the satellite image also relayed at the end of September 2018 by the Israeli army on Twitter.

pic.twitter.com/0ZyM56DoQY

An area nine kilometers away

If one of the locations indicated by Benjamin Netanyahu is indeed by the sea, along the coast, the area in question is south of Beirut, about nine kilometers from the port where the two explosions took place, as it can easily be checked on Google Maps. We can see, near the airport, this location, right next to the tracks and the sports stadium.

The distance between the port of Beirut where the double explosion of August 4 took place and the alleged missile caches of Hezbollah according to Benyamin Netanyahu. - screenshot / Google Street View

Benjamin Netanyahu had therefore not indicated, two years in advance, the location of a secret Hezbollah site corresponding to the site of the double explosion of August 4.

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In spite of everything, could such a cache of weapons have been found in the port of Beirut? In any case, this is what the Jerusalem Post maintains in an article published today, without saying more about the source of this assertion, not relayed by other media: “[Hezbollah] has a special terminal at the port of Beirut, where it regularly unloads weapons sent to Lebanon by Iran. The containers containing these weapons are unloaded by members of Hebzollah and are not subject to the usual customs inspections. The weapons are then stored for a period of time at the port before being sent to Hezbollah bases and storage centers across the country. "

Prime Minister Netanyahu:
“We hit a cell and now we hit the dispatchers. We will do what is necessary in order to defend ourselves. I suggest to all of them, including Hezbollah, to consider this.

Failing to be able to confirm or deny these assertions, to be taken with the necessary caution in view of the conflict between Israel and Lebanon, it is on the other hand certain that the comments made by Benjamin Netanyahu on August 4 did not concern the double explosion of Port of Beirut. This statement, held several hours before the tragedy, made reference to Israeli strikes carried out in southern Syria the day before, as reported in particular by Le Figaro .

Since the Beirut tragedy, Israel has also announced humanitarian aid to its Lebanese neighbor and denied any involvement in the explosion through the voice of its head of diplomacy, Gabi Ashkenazi: "I see no reason to doubt the information. emanating from Beirut. "

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