The real tragedy for Lebanon is Hezbollah’s continuing stranglehold

Hezbollah would rather the Lebanese people suffer, than let them partake of assistance offered by the Jewish state.

In a symbolic act of human solidarity, Tel Aviv on Wednesday night was to light up its municipality in the colors of the flag of Lebanon, an enemy state.

“Humanity precedes any conflict,” Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai tweeted, explaining the move. “Our hearts are with the Lebanese people in the wake of the terrible disaster that befell them.”

Israel, through both official and unofficial channels, has offered Lebanon more than symbolic gestures in dealing with the devastation caused by the massive explosion at Beirut’s port. Jerusalem was quick to offer the Lebanese government humanitarian aid to cope with the tragedy, including its expertise in search and rescue.

Another area in particular where Israel could assist would be in caring for some of the injured in its hospitals.

Salman Zarka, director of the Ziv Medical Center in Safed, offered his hospital’s services. Safed is only 100 kilometers from Beirut. Any country of Lebanon’s size would be hard pressed to cope with a disaster that has left more than 100 dead and 4,000 injured. Add to that the stress placed on the medical system by the coronavirus, and the damage sustained in the explosion by four Beirut hospitals, and there is no way that Lebanon’s hospitals can deal with this alone.

Israel could help, and its hospitals – top in the region – are closer and easier to access than any of the other nearby alternatives in Cyprus or Turkey (Syria is not a realistic option).

Unfortunately, there is almost no chance Lebanon will take Israel up on its offer. And this is a shame, because this could be a game changer. Not only would it help the Lebanese injured, but it also could fundamentally change the poisonous atmosphere between the two neighboring countries.

It won’t happen – even though some of the Lebanese public might wish it would – because Hezbollah, an integral part of Lebanon’s government, would never allow it. Hezbollah wants to destroy Israel, not allow the suffering Lebanese people to partake of its mercies. That would undercut the ground upon which the terrorist organization stands: that Israel is the hated enemy.

Hezbollah would rather the Lebanese people suffer, than let them partake of assistance offered by the Jewish state. This complete disregard for the security and well-being of the Lebanese people is nothing new.

It is this disregard that has enabled the terrorist organization to use Lebanese civilians in south Lebanon as human shields to guard their missiles. For years, Hezbollah has had no compunction about placing rocket launchers in the basements of apartment buildings, knowingly and willfully placing residents of those buildings in harm’s way.

They have also had no problems placing missile warehouses in the middle of Beirut. No one knows for sure what sparked the horrendous blast in Lebanon’s capital on Tuesday, though the Lebanese government has said it was because of the storage of more than 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate.

Even if that is true, and even if – as some initially thought – it was not a Hezbollah missile silo in the heart of the city that exploded, those storehouses do exist. If not at the port, then nearby. Hezbollah puts them there because it knows Israel would be very reluctant to attack them, precisely because it would cause the type of damage that shattered the city on Tuesday.

“In Lebanon Iran is directing Hezbollah to build secret sites to convert inaccurate projectiles into precision guided missiles,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a speech at the UN in 2018, unveiling intelligence showing where the terrorist group’s missile warehouses were located. “Hezbollah is deliberately using the innocent people of Beirut as human shields.”

If, unfortunately, Lebanon will not accept Israel’s offers of aid, at the very least the explosion at Beirut’s port should trigger a real debate inside the country about the risks of allowing a terrorist organization to use its capital city as a giant missile warehouse.

Tuesday’s horrendous explosion, and the death and destruction it has wrought, is a tragedy for Lebanon. No less a tragedy is Hezbollah’s commandeering of that country and turning its cities into weapons storage centers that could ignite as easily as that mountain of ammonium nitrate apparently did at Beirut’s port.