Hariri: Israel knows there are no missile factories in Lebanon

Saad Hariri in Paris Photo: Twitter @saadhariri

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Israel "knows very well that there are no missile factories in Lebanon."

«Israelis are used to launching campaigns of deception. "They say that Hezbollah controls Lebanon, and that is not true," Hariri told the French newspaper Le Monde.

«Hezbollah is present. He is in the Government and has support in the country; but this does not mean that Hezbollah controls all of Lebanon,” argued the Lebanese prime minister.

Hariri referred to foreign reports, confirmed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, as well as statements by senior Israeli Defense Army officers, that Iran is building missile factories in Lebanon to provide Hezbollah with guided missiles.

Hariri said Lebanon's problem with Israel is that "its leaders always talk about war and security, but never about peace. The late Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz left Lebanon in 2002 with the Arab Peace Initiative. What did Israel do in relation to that? Nothing".

Hezbollah is on the United States list of terrorist groups; However, it holds seats in the Lebanese parliament and has a strong political presence in Lebanon. The group is part of Hariri's government.

Saad Hariri is the son of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated in 2005 in a terrorist bombing attack attributed to Hezbollah.

In the interview given to Le Monde, Hariri was also asked about calls from the US and Israel to change and expand the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), to disrupt Hezbollah's arms smuggling. towards southern Lebanon, as well as the US threat to stop its military aid to Lebanon due to its army's links with the Shiite Islamic terrorist group Hezbollah.

«I was in Washington last spring; I met with President [Donald] Trump and visited Congress. For them, Hezbollah is really a cause for concern,” Hariri responded.

«I asked them if their problem was with Hezbollah or with the Lebanese people. The war against the Islamic State showed everyone the capabilities of the Lebanese Army. Since my visit to Washington, the American Administration knows more about what we are doing to strengthen the institutions of the State and the Lebanese Army, and American assistance to the Lebanese Army will continue," he added.

«The opinions and positions regarding Hezbollah and its role are different, but we have reached an agreement to put all unresolved regional issues aside; so they will not affect the activity of the government, the State and the economy," Hariri highlighted.

Share
8 thoughts on “Hariri: Israel knows that there are no missile factories in Lebanon”
  1. He doesn't even believe what he's saying......and as for...LE MONDE...he already knows what he's doing...if Hezbollah launches a new war against Israel...Hariri and the Lebanese Like the ancient Gauls, they only have to fear one thing…….THAT THE SKY FALLS ON THEM…….that they don't cry afterwards.

  2. Some time ago, senior Israeli officials and diplomats denounced the existence of 100.000 missiles in Lebanon in the hands of Hezbollah. It seems an exaggerated figure and will include a high percentage of inaccurate rockets, an intelligence estimate because they will not know the exact number or the terrorists, and this is the problem, there is no one who can verify it. Although Israel has an anti-missile system, if they launch many rockets in a row, more precision missiles could do a lot of damage.

Leave your comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked with *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.