Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu considered that Israel and the Arab countries are facing together the biggest enemy of peace in the region, which is Iran, and he accused the Lebanese Hezbollah of storing weapons in a residential neighborhood in Beirut, which prompted the party to deny and accuse Israel of incitement.
In a videotaped speech before the United Nations General Assembly, Netanyahu said, "Israel and the Arab countries do not stand together only for peace. We stand together in the face of the greatest enemy of peace in the Middle East, Iran."
He added that Iran repeatedly attacks its neighbors, and is engaged by proxy in acts of violence in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Gaza and Lebanon.
Hezbollah accused and
warned Netanyahu that a weapons depot in the Jnah neighborhood in the southern suburbs of Beirut is "the place where the next explosion could take place", in the aftermath of the August 4 explosion in the Beirut port that killed about 200 people and more than 6 thousand wounded.
Netanyahu showed a map of what he said was a "secret weapons factory," noting that it was located 50 meters from a gas station and a gas company.
"I tell the residents of the wing that you must act now. You have to protest against that, because if this thing explodes, that will be another tragedy," Netanyahu added.
The Israeli Prime Minister directed his speech to the Lebanese, saying, "Israel does not want you to do evil, unlike Iran, which, together with Hezbollah, have deliberately exposed you and your families to great danger."
Netanyahu also called on the international community to insist that "Hezbollah cease to use Lebanon and its citizens as human shields."
Hezbollah responds
In return, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah hurried to respond in a televised speech, saying that Netanyahu "aims to incite the Lebanese people against Hezbollah, as usual."
He added that Hezbollah does not place missiles in the Beirut port or near a gas station, and that it knows very well where the missiles should be placed, stressing that Lebanon and Israel are officially in a state of war.
Hezbollah organized a tour for the media inside a facility for the manufacture and smelting of iron in the Jnah area. The party’s media relations official, Muhammad Afif, said that the aim of the visit was to "refute the Israeli allegations."