Israel's latest exposure of the location of three precision-guided missile sites, embedded in heavily built-up areas of Beirut, was officially directed at the international community and at Lebanese civilians. It also appeared to be a call to action. But it can also be seen as a veiled warning to Hezbollah itself, aimed at getting the terrorist group to stand down from its dangerous attempts to exact vengeance against the Israel Defense Forces.
During his speech Tuesday to the UN General Assembly, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used the global stage to reveal the whereabouts of secret missile sites. His speech was soon followed by a detailed IDF video showing the exact location of the sites under residential buildings and in close proximity to many civilians.
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Netanyahu pointed to Hezbollah's total infiltration of the Lebanese state, as well as its conversion of Lebanon into an Iranian forward operating base, in the wider regional context, stating that Iran's terror proxies are directly involved in violence throughout the Middle East, including in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Gaza and Lebanon.
Highlighting the radical Iranian axis was a reminder of the fact that Tehran's network remains active throughout the Middle East, although it is facing an increasingly well-defined coalition of moderate Sunni states and Israel.
Zooming in on Lebanon, Netanyahu referenced the disastrous Aug. 4 blast at Beirut's seaport, which killed nearly 200 people, injured thousands and left hundreds of thousands of Beirut residents homeless.
"Now, here is where the next explosion could take place. Right here," said Netanyahu, standing alongside a map of the Lebanese capital. "This is the Beirut neighborhood of Janah. It's right next to the international airport. And here, Hezbollah is keeping a secret arms depot. This secret arms depot, right here, is adjacent, a meter away, from a gas company. These are gas canisters. Right here. It's a few meters (yards) away from a gas station. It's 50 meters away from the gas company. Here are more gas trucks. And it's embedded in civilian housing here, civilian housing here. For the Janah neighborhood residents, this is the actual coordinates."
Netanyahu's next message was intended to stir opposition to Hezbollah's actions among Beirut's residents, against being used by Hezbollah as human shields for missile sites: "I say to the people of Janah, you've got to act now. You've got to protest this. Because if this thing explodes, it's another tragedy."
Netanyahu's address comes just days after a Hezbollah weapons depot exploded in the southern Lebanese village of Ain Qana. In 2019, Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Dannon warned that "Iran and its Quds Force have been exploiting civilian maritime channels, and specifically the Port of Beirut. The Iranian regime is transferring weapons in various ways. They use commercial companies, mainly from Europe, to support Hezbollah and develop its missile program. Unfortunately, the port of Beirut has become Hezbollah's port."
A top-priority Israeli concern
The timing of Netanyahu's latest statement cannot be divorced from the current impasse between the IDF and Hezbollah. Tensions have been extremely high for months along the Israeli-Lebanese border due to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah's insistence on enforcing his "equations" on Israel, whereby any Hezbollah personnel killed in Israeli airstrikes in Syria will trigger "proportionate" retaliation by Hezbollah against the IDF.
Hezbollah, as well as the Iranian Quds Force, has repeatedly attempted to implement this policy in recent months. On every occasion thus far, they have run into a prepared IDF on high alert, able to identify the threat in time.
Now, with IDF officials warning that any successful Hezbollah attack will trigger a firm, painful Israeli response – and that Israel will not accept Hezbollah's equations – the ball is in Nasrallah's court.
Israel's latest message about the location of the missile sites can also be seen as a timely reminder of the scope of the IDF's intelligence penetration of Hezbollah and its deep awareness of the organization's activities throughout Lebanon.
Jerusalem has repeatedly warned that it will not tolerate the presence of precision-guided missile factories on Lebanese soil, and the messages must be seen as direct warnings to both Hezbollah and Iran to cease work at these facilities. Such sites could end up being targets in any major future escalation, which could begin with a Hezbollah border strike.
The precision-guided missile program is a top-priority Israeli security concern, as such weapons would give the terror group the ability to accurately target strategic sites deep inside Israel.
The precision missile project includes converting existing unguided rockets into guided missiles, as well as building an array of missile manufacturing sites in Lebanon and shielding it by planting the facilities in the middle of civilian areas, often under residential buildings.
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In addition to the site in the Janah neighborhood, Israel revealed an underground missile site beneath a seven-story residential building with more than 70 families. The building is adjacent to a medical center and a church.
A third site, built underneath a five-story residential building housing some 50 families, is located next to a mosque.
Ultimately, Israel hopes Hezbollah internalizes the risk that it would be taking by attempting another border attack while marking out for the entire world its cynical use of Lebanon's embattled civilians as shields for a dangerous industry of precision missiles.
Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
