Lebanon tours alleged Hezbollah missile sites to prove Israel wrong

The Lebanese Foreign Minister Monday escorted dozens of foreign ambassadors and diplomats to visit a football field, warehouse and golf course adjoining Beirut airport. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu BEIRUT –

No evidence of missiles or their production has been seen.

The allegations and the Lebanese response, however, recalled the real risk of a new Israeli-Lebanese war as the conflict in Syria stops. This left the Lebanese Shiite militia, Hezbollah, allied to Iran, which fought for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in a position more powerful than ever.

Netanyahu made the allegations at the UN last week, unveiling a satellite map showing three sites near Beirut airport where Hezbollah has been concealing advanced missiles that could be used to target Israel. The presentation raised concerns across Lebanon that Israel is planning an attack on the sites.

The tour was organized to demonstrate that Netanyahu is an "international liar," said Lebanon's Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, who accompanied the dignitaries and whose political party is allied with Hezbollah.

Participants included ambassadors from Russia, Iran and many African and Asian countries, as well as representatives from all major European embassies. No diplomat from the United States was absent. The US Embassy did not respond to a request for comment.

The areas visited were those identified as sites 2 and 3 on the Netanyahu map, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Site 2 was apparently the pavilion of one of the biggest football teams in LebanonAl-Ahed, which includes a football field, a swimming pool and a gym.

"As you can see, there is no missile here," Bassil told diplomats as they stood in the middle of the football field.

Site 3 was an apparently abandoned warehouse which did not seem to have been used for a long time. The golf course was included in the tour by mistake, officials from the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The third site, identified as Site 1 on the Israeli map, was not part of the route, but officials said they were certain there were no missiles either.

The three sites are in the densely populated and mostly Shiite neighborhood of Ouzai, where support for Hezbollah is strong. Photographs of the faces of young men in the area who died fighting for Hezbollah in the name of Assad are hanging in the streets.

Diplomats, speaking on the condition that they are not identified, observed that the visit seemed inconclusive as one of the sites was excluded. In addition, the diplomats said the map displayed by Netanyahu was too vague to determine the exact location of alleged missile sites.

Netanyahu accused Hezbollah of "blatantly lying," saying the group had withdrawn evidence of missiles before the ambassadors' visit.

"The Lebanese Foreign Minister. . . took ambassadors to the football field, but refrained from taking them to the underground missile production plant next door, "he said in a statement issued by his office. "The ambassadors wondered why it took three days to organize the tour. As usual, Hezbollah took care to clean the area on the sites we discovered.

The visit did not leave indifferent the turn of Hezbollah boast of possessing a huge arsenal of missiles, which are probably hidden somewhere in Lebanon. According to Israeli estimates, the number of Hezbollah missiles and rockets targeting Israel is estimated at more than 100,000, a figure that has not been disputed by Hezbollah.

Asked about where the missiles were stored, Bassil replied that it was not up to his ministry to settle. Although Hezbollah acknowledges possessing precision-guided missiles, "that does not mean that they are stored near Beirut's airport," Bassil said.

Israel has repeatedly pledged to prevent Hezbollah from acquiring such missiles, which are likely to inflict massive casualties on Israel and rebalance a balance of power that has seen Israeli air strikes kill many Lebanese during past wars. Most dozens of Israeli-led airstrikes in Syria in recent years were aimed at preventing Iran's transfer to Lebanon of sophisticated weapons intended for Hezbollah, according to Israeli officials.

In a speech last month, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Israel was too late because Hezbollah already had "extremely accurate" missiles. "No matter what you do to cut the road, the question is over," he said.

Israel has waged two major wars in Lebanon over the last four decades and its troops occupied southern Lebanon for 24 years until the year 2000, when they were forced to withdraw under the pressure of the attacks of the Hezbollah guerrillas. Their last clash in 2006 was inconclusive and Hezbollah has since established itself as a major political and military player in Lebanon. The group's fighters are returning from Syria with significant combat experience and have assembled a formidable stock of weapons. Its politicians won enough seats in parliament in the May elections to play a decisive role in shaping the next government.

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