Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Lebanon’s Hezbollah of building weapons next to a petrol station in Beirut, warning of “another tragedy” if it explodes.
Israel has repeatedly accused the Shi’ite movement Hezbollah, backed by Israel’s arch-foe Iran, of building missiles to attack the Jewish state.
The militant group swiftly denied the latest charge and invited journalists to visit the site.
In a video speech from Jerusalem broadcast to the UN General Assembly in New York, Mr Netanyahu presented a map with coordinates he said showed a “secret weapons depot” in Beirut’s southern suburb of Jnah, a stronghold of the movement.
Beirut is still reeling from an August 4 explosion when a huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate exploded in the port, killing more than 190 people, wounding thousands and ravaging large parts of the city.
Israeli illustrations showed what Mr Netanyahu said was a weapons depot sandwiched between two compounds.
The alleged precision missile factory is “a few metres away from a gas station” on one side, and 50m from a “gas company” on the other.
“If this thing explodes, it’s another tragedy,” Mr Netanyahu said. The site is also close to Beirut’s international airport.
The Israeli images appeared to show cooking gas depots, but there are also petrol stations nearby, according to Google Maps.
Read the article in The Australian (AFP).