In an unusual move, the Israeli military on Tuesday tweeted the coordinates of what it said were Hezbollah missile stockpiles in Beirut and released further information on two other sites it claimed the Shi’ite terrorist group uses as part of its weapon production efforts.
“Here are the coordinates to put in your Waze. Let’s hope the journalists get there before Nasrallah’s moving trucks do: 33.854951N, 35.486802E. And two bonus sites to check out afterward: 33.832307N, 35.513772E [and] 33.815185N, 35.510432E,” the IDF posted on its official Twitter feed. The military added that it hoped “journalists get there before Nasrallah’s moving trucks do.”
The move followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s video address to the annual U.N. General Assembly earlier in the day, during which he showed what he said were maps of Hezbollah missile depots.
One of the stockpiles highlighted by Netanyahu is located shockingly close to a gas station and residential housing. Netanyahu urged the Lebanese people to protect themselves and avoid the threat of another devastating explosion like the one which flattened the Beirut port on Aug. 4.
The massive blast left at least 200 dead, 6,500 injured and rendered an estimated 300,000 people homeless. It also caused upward of $10 billion in property damage.
In its Twitter post, the IDF said that with the help of the international community, Hezbollah’s storing of weapons among civilians could be ended.
“This is not the first time we’ve exposed Hezbollah’s precision-guided missile [PGM] manufacturing sites in the heart of Beirut. But the international community can help make this the last time. It’s time for the world to stand up against the use of human shields by Hezbollah,” the military said.
Israeli military intelligence placed one of Hezbollah’s PGM sites under four seven-story residential buildings housing about 70 families in the heart of the Lebanese capital. The depot is also about 140 yards from a church and a hospital. The second site lurks under a residential complex housing about 50 families, located less than 100 meters from a mosque.
Israel maintains that Iran, Hezbollah’s patron, is the one fueling its precision-guided missile development scheme.
“Releasing information about these sites seeks to call on the Lebanese government, with the support of the international community, to intervene in what is happening in the country, and at the same time to allow the Lebanese people to defend themselves against the dangers of allowing Hezbollah, which does Iran’s bidding, to increase its hold on their country,” the IDF said in a statement.
“Israel and the IDF monitor these sites through various means and have a great deal of information about the precision-guided missile project. We will continue to meet this [project] with broad operational response, using various methods and tools.”
In a series of tweets last week, the IDF said, “No military should have to write a thread like this, but we can’t stand idly by when there are important questions that must be asked: Last week, a Hezbollah arms depot exploded in the middle of a neighborhood in southern Lebanon ... but why was it there in the first place?
“Hezbollah’s strategy is to hide their weapons inside civilian neighborhoods. Why? So that if things were to escalate with Israel, Israel would have no choice but to target civilian areas. Why does Hezbollah want Israel to target civilian areas? Because then there would be international outrage at the fact that Israel has targeted civilians.
“Dear world, international outrage should begin now. Hezbollah should not be storing weapons in civilian areas and risking the lives of the Lebanese people. Humans should not serve as shields for weapons.”
This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.
