Lebanon organizes tour at Beirut airport after claims of Hezbollah storing weapons

Lebanon on Monday organized a tour for media outlets and diplomats around Beirut’s international airport, one day after a British publication report claimed that Hezbollah was storing weapons at the facility.

Various media outlets and diplomats were invited by Lebanese Transport Minister Ali Hamieh to inspect various areas at Rafik Hariri International Airport to refute The Telegraph’s report on Sunday.

The publication said that Hezbollah is storing missiles and rockets at the airport, where “whistleblowers” had reported the arrival of “unusually big boxes.”

Footage from local media showed Hamieh along with Foreign Minister Abdullah Bouhabib and Information Minister Ziad Makary touring the facility as well as cargo and customs buildings along with ambassadors and journalists.

“The airport is a public facility that concerns all Lebanese, and it is the image of Lebanon. We are on the verge of a promising summer. Therefore, the intentions of the Telegraph article are very clear,” Makary was reported as saying by the National News Agency (NNA).

He added that it was not “possible for Hezbollah to store missiles in a place where world ambassadors [would] enter.”

Israel has for years accused Hezbollah of keeping precision rockets and missiles in different installations throughout Lebanon, including on a site near Beirut airport.

Hezbollah denies these accusations.

Backed by Iran, Hezbollah has been exchanging near-daily fire with Israeli forces in support of its ally, Hamas. The Palestinian movement has been at war with Israel since October 7 when Hamas militants from Gaza attacked southern Israel.

After the report, Hamieh held a news conference to address the claims.

“I am holding this press conference to clarify that everything that has been written in The Telegraph is false and to say that there are no weapons entering or leaving Beirut airport,” Hamieh told journalists on Sunday.