Diplomatic and media delegations, including Lebanon’s ministers and foreign ambassadors, toured Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport following allegations from The Telegraph about Hezbollah storing weapons there. The UK newspaper claimed “whistleblowers” expressed concerns over weapons deliveries from Iran via direct flights, sparking international controversy. Lebanese officials vehemently denied the accusations, calling them part of a psychological war to isolate Lebanon. They criticized The Telegraph for not verifying with official sources and threatened legal action. The visit aimed to refute these claims and showcase transparency, contrasting past accusations of missile depots and weapon storage that proved unfounded.
Diplomatic and media delegations visited Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport on Monday, one day after the UK daily The Telegraph published a story alleging that Hezbollah had stashed weapons within the airport.
Lebanon’s Information Minister Ziad al-Makari, Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib, Tourism Minister Walid Nassar, and other officials took part in the airport tour. Several ambassadors and media correspondents, including one from The Cradle, were present.
They were shown the main freight facilities, a storage facility for imported goods, and numerous locations near the airport.
“The British Department of Transport is an official body concerned with transport. It visited Beirut Airport six months ago and viewed all its corners. It would have been more effective for this newspaper to rely on the Authority as a source in its article and not to unknown people and unknown parties,” Lebanese Transport Minister Ali Hamieh said at a press conference following the trip.
He also repeated what he said the day before, on Sunday, concerning negotiations with Lebanon’s prime minister and legal teams to bring a lawsuit against The Telegraph, saying, “What is happening is a psychological war against Lebanon… we have proven that the article is ridiculous.”
The UK tabloid reported “whistleblowers” from the airport on June 23 as stating they were concerned about increased weapons deliveries coming into the nation on direct flights from Iran, alleging they had observed “unusually big boxes” and the “increased presence of high-level Hezbollah commanders.”
According to the Telegraph, Lebanon’s International Air Transport Association (IATA) has known about Hezbollah weapons at the airport “for years” but has been unable to take action.
Following the IATA’s announcement that the quote was bogus, the newspaper amended the article and attributed the same quote to an anonymous “major international aviation body.”
A high-ranking Lebanese security official told The Cradle on Sunday that they disseminated disinformation to later explain any Israeli attack on Beirut airport to isolate Lebanon. “The enemy spreads these rumors as a form of psychological warfare.”
In 2018, a large number of foreign ambassadors examined multiple sites near Beirut International Airport to counter Israeli accusations regarding missile depots there. In 2020, after Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that a residential sector in the Lebanese capital was being used to conceal weapons, Hezbollah invited international and local media to the site, where no such weapons were discovered.
Israel bombarded Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport during the opening of the 2006 Hezbollah-Israeli conflict.
Recently, GreatGameIndia reported that Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, has warned of a boundless war if Israel invades Lebanon, threatening Cyprus and Israel’s Mediterranean gas fields amid escalating tensions and military preparations.