Danon to U.N.: Port of Beirut Has Become Port of Hezbollah

Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon told the Security Council on Tuesday that Iran and Syria are smuggling weapons-making equipment through the port of Beirut to the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon.

Citing intelligence information, Danon said: “In the years 2018-2019, Israel found that dual-use items are smuggled into Lebanon to advance Hezbollah’s rocket and missile capabilities. Iran and the Quds Force have begun to advance the exploitation of the civilian maritime channels, and specifically the Port of Beirut. The Port of Beirut has become the Port of Hezbollah.”

The Israeli envoy specified that Iran and Hezbollah were aided by Syrian agents who purchased the equipment from foreign civilian companies and transferred the equipment to Lebanon. These agents misled the companies when they officially unloaded the equipment at the Port of Beirut, but eventually succeeded in reaching Hezbollah’s missile production facilities.

Addressing the Council members, Danon then asked: “Are you absolutely sure your companies are not the ones selling dual-use equipment to the hands of Hezbollah? Are you sure your citizens know the end-users of these dual-use items?”

The Israeli ambassador said that Hezbollah regularly uses civilian centers in Lebanon to illegally transport arms, in flagrant violation of Security Council Resolution 1701. Danon presented the Security Council with a map of various weapons transfer routes to Hezbollah for it to arm itself against Israel: from Damascus airport to Beirut’s Hariri airport; the official border crossings between Syria and Lebanon, such as the Masnaa crossings; and, as mentioned above, the Port of Beirut.