Lebanon has roundly dismissed as “ridiculous” a report by the British daily The Telegraph alleging that Hezbollah is storing weapons at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport, vowing to take legal actions against the newspaper.
The Telegraph article “seeks to tarnish the airport reputation,” caretaker Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamieh told a press conference on Sunday.
He sharply criticized the British newspaper for failing to use reliable sources in its article about the airport.
Lebanon “will file a lawsuit against The Telegraph because its article aims to damage the reputation of the airport,” the minister said.
Earlier on Sunday, the Lebanese Air Transport Union called the British media report “lies” and lambasted the newspaper for endangering airport workers and passengers.
Lebanon has roundly dismissed as “ridiculous” a report by the British daily The Telegraph alleging that Hezbollah is storing weapons at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport, vowing to take legal actions against the newspaper.
The Telegraph article “seeks to tarnish the airport reputation,” caretaker Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamieh told a press conference on Sunday.
He sharply criticized the British newspaper for failing to use reliable sources in its article about the airport.
Lebanon “will file a lawsuit against The Telegraph because its article aims to damage the reputation of the airport,” the minister said.
Hamieh noted that “Beirut airport has been subjected to a disinformation campaign for years,” adding that instead of publishing a “ridiculous” and baseless report, the British daily “should have opted for checking in with the British Department of Transport, which conducted a field visit of the airport on January 22, 2024.”
“This is the primary authority responsible for transportation matters at the airport,” he stated.
Earlier on Sunday, the Lebanese Air Transport Union called the British media report “lies” and lambasted the newspaper for endangering airport workers and passengers.
The union called on all Lebanese, Arab, and foreign media “to come to the Beirut airport with filming crews to verify for themselves, otherwise what these suspicious media are promoting is incitement to kill us.”
Moreover, Lebanon’s caretaker Minister of Information, Zaid Makary, condemned The Telegraph’s report over violating the principles and ethics of journalism.
He called on all media outlets to both denounce the allegation and also expose the goals behind its publication under current circumstances.
Israel launched its brutal war on Gaza on October 7 last year after Palestinian resistance groups carried out a historic operation against the usurping regime in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.
For its part, Hezbollah has pledged to continue its retaliatory operations against the Tel Aviv regime until it stops its onslaught on Gaza.
At least 37,598 Palestinians have since been killed in the besieged enclave, the vast majority being women and children, and another 86,032 individuals injured, according to local health authorities.