Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, June 23, that Israel’s “intense fighting” in Gaza will wind down, and that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) could soon shift its focus to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Netanyahu said though the war is far from over, he is willing and ready to consider deals to get more hostages home, adding that he’s still pushing forward with his goal of eliminating Hamas.
The prime minister reiterated Israel will not leave Gaza until all hostages are returned, but it is also trying to minimize tensions with Hezbollah at the Lebanon border.
Hezbollah attacked Israel from Lebanon shortly after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack, and firefights between the IDF and Hezbollah at the Israel-Lebanon border have escalated in recent weeks, raising the prospects for war.
Hezbollah, a terror group backed by Iran, is suspected of storing a massive collection of Iranian ballistic missiles, rockets and highly toxic powder called RDX, along with other explosives.
According to a report by The Telegraph, airport workers at Beirut’s Rafic Al Hariri International Airport say large quantities of weapons arrive at the airport from Iran in “mysterious large boxes.” The whistleblowers insist the airport is hiding the largest cache of weapons for Hezbollah.
It’s an accusation Beirut airport bosses denied.
To quell the claims, Beirut’s Hezbollah-affiliated minister of public works and transport arranged a tour of the airport for journalists Monday, June 24.
However, The Times of Israel reported that while journalists were touring the airport grounds, a certain air cargo center was off-limits to cameras and reporters due to “organizational issues.” Only diplomats from the European Union, Iran, Mexico and other Arab countries were allowed inside that cargo center.
So far, there have been no reports from journalists as to whether they saw weapons at the airport.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Charles Brown, warned that if Israel moves forward with a military offensive against Hezbollah, Iran will respond and bolster Hezbollah’s efforts against Israel. Thousands of Iran-backed militants have already vowed to join Hezbollah in Lebanon if the conflict becomes a war.
