Fingering Israel for Hariri’s death

Trouble is brewing and a number of reliable sources in the Middle East fear that another round between Hizbollah and Israel is almost inevitable. After all, Israel was beaten badly in 2006 and doesn’t want to get too used to failure. I was in Lebanon the days before the Hariri assassination and remain fascinated with this case:

In a two-hour long television appearance, Hezbollah’s leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, offered Monday what he contended was evidence proving Israel’s involvement in the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri, in a 2005 bombing.

The news conference was widely followed in the Arab world, where it was broadcast live by Al-Jazeera, the satellite channel. In Lebanon, it was much anticipated, coming amid speculation that an international tribunal investigating Mr. Hariri’s death would indict members of Hezbollah later this year. Mr. Hariri’s supporters have long contended that Syria or its allies in Lebanon, Hezbollah foremost among them, were behind the killing.

Mr. Nasrallah presented a series of clips, each several minutes long, of what he said was Israeli surveillance footage intercepted by Hezbollah of roads and places that Mr. Hariri frequented, including the seaside boulevard in Beirut where he was killed.

“Such surveillance generally comes as the first step of the execution of an operation,” Mr. Nasrallah told reporters during the conference via satellite link.

Mr. Nasrallah acknowledged that the images were not conclusive evidence against Israel but noted that the areas surveyed by Israeli reconnaissance planes were not places that Hezbollah members frequent or live in.

“Is this a coincidence after coincidence after coincidence?” he asked.

He also offered a rationale for the killing. “Israel was looking for a way to assassinate Hariri in order to create political chaos that would force Syria to withdraw from Lebanon, and to perpetuate an anti-Syrian atmosphere in the wake of the assassination,” he said.

While the news conference may not shift the debate, it was a sophisticated presentation, and it demonstrated that Hezbollah was able to intercept footage of Israeli aerial reconnaissance. Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in 2006, and many in Lebanon fear that both sides are prepared to fight again.

Text and images ©2024 Antony Loewenstein. All rights reserved.

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