The horrible tragedy at the Beirut Port which left 185 Lebanese dead and thousands more wounded was the result of a massive stockpiling of dangerous explosives in civilian centers. And while the Lebanese population violently protests in the streets and demands an international investigation into who owned the 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate and why it was being stored at the Port, it is clear it is only a matter of time before the next explosion goes off and large numbers of civilians are, Gd forbid, killed again.
Afterall, it is the very strategy of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, which controls Lebanon to stockpile weapons and rockets in civilian centers, so as to utilize unsuspecting neighborhoods as "human shields" for their arms depots. Perhaps, the most dangerous and vulnerable stockpile of them all is Hezbollah's stash of rockets and launchers at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut. It is here the next calamity in the midst of a civilian center could occur.
A satellite image released by the Israel Defense Forces showing sites near Beirut's international airport that the army says is being used by Hezbollah to convert regular missiles into precision-guided munitions, on September 27, 2018. (Israel Defense Forces)
Fateh-110 Missile. (Hossien Velayati)
Hezbollah's chief terrorist, Hassan Nasrallah, faces a terrible quandary. His organization's entire strength, indeed its raison d'etre and Iran's main interest in funding it, is to stockpile weapons and rockets which can be utilized to attack Israel. As such, Hezbollah has spent the years since the 2006 Second Lebanon War amassing a gigantic supply of missiles. These are primarily crude Iranian and North Korean made rockets packed with explosives and metal ball bearings. The intent is to fire them into Israeli population centers once the next hostilities start.
Because Hezbollah understands that Israel's missile defense systems, the Patriot and Iron Dome, cannot effectively safeguard against rocket barrages, Hezbollah's goal of raining missiles down on Israeli cities can only be accomplished by having many launchers available in many different locations.
And herein is Nasrallah's dilemma: If he leaves Hezbollah's rockets and launchers in "military" type bases, the Israeli air force will swiftly destroy them. Anything exposed and open can logistically be reached and neutralized by Israel's pilots. Nasrallah has to place his stockpiles and launchers in places Israel cannot easily target them - - Lebanese civilian areas. Hezbollah needs to utilize Lebanon's civilian population and city centers as shields for its menacing rocket launchers.
Thus, Nasrallah has created numerous depots and storage facilities right in the midst of Lebanese civilian centers such as in schools, mosques, hospitals and residential buildings. There were missiles at the Beirut port before the explosion.
Nasrallah understands that the Israeli air force would be hindered in trying to attack targets in population centers that endanger innocent lives. Moreover, if Israel does strike the launchers and civilians are indeed killed, then Hezbollah can count on the Europeans, the UN and the ICC to cry "war crimes" and demand an immediate ceasefire, as they have in every war Israel fights.
One of the most troubling locations in which Hezbollah maintains its largest stockpile of rockets and launchers today is Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport. Nasrallah has placed many launchers and rockets at the airport knowing that Israel would be hard pressed to bomb it. On the ground would ordinarily be dozens of planes from many different countries. The terrorists reason that Israel will be too afraid to strike if there is a chance they might hit a British Air, Air France, Delta or Aeroflot plane. They know damaging civilian airplanes, or worse killing foreigners at an international airport would create diplomatic and public relations catastrophes for Israel during a war. This is Nasrallah's cynical strategy and despite sounding the alarm Israel is unable to get the UN or the Europeans to react to the immense danger this is creating.
The rockets and launchers at Beirut Airport could explode just as easily as the chemicals that were stockpiled at the Port. The rockets place many Lebanese civilians and foreigners at the Airport in risky danger. In addition, they create a threat to all air traffic in Beirut. Afterall, Iran itself recently shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 over Tehran in a panic after an American attack. Every flight in and out of Lebanon, every airport worker and every passenger, is at risk from these rockets.
According to Shurat HaDin president Nitsana Darshan-Leitner: "Hezbollah cynically utilizes all of Lebanon's civilian population as human shields to protect its criminal rockets in violation of international law. It is only a matter of short time before this terrorist organization that controls Lebanon makes another disastrous work accident and blows up other civilian centers. The Hezbollah rockets at the Beirut Airport are some of the most dangerous and they threaten every flight into Lebanon. All countries that have air service to Beirut need to place pressure on the Lebanese to get the terrorist rockets out of the Airport before the next war commences. Ignoring this danger will end up no better than ignoring the ammonium nitrate at the Port. Beirut Airport and the Hezbollah rocket stockpiles there are a Lebanese catastrophe just waiting to occur."
