Report: Netanyahu’s UN Claims Raise ‘Fear of War’

Israeli claims that Hizbullah has secret rocket sites near the Beirut airport have “aggravated fears of an Israeli aggression against Lebanon,” as Lebanese officials strongly deny the claims describing them as “baseless,” the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat daily reported on Wednesday.

President Michel Aoun said on Tuesday that Lebanon will confront any Israeli aggression, and that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's allegations — made during an address to the U.N. General Assembly last week — were "baseless," calling them a "new Israeli threat to Lebanese sovereignty."

Lebanese parties share fears of a war that Israel intends to initiate, it added. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri raised concerns on Tuesday saying the claims and escalating rhetoric hide intentions to “shut down Beirut airport.”

Member of the Strong Republic parliamentary bloc (Lebanese Forces party), MP Antoine Habshi told the daily: “We support the dissociation policy which can only be applied by distancing Lebanon from the regional axis policy.”

A member of the Development and Liberation bloc, MP Mohammed Khawaja told the newspaper: “The Israeli threat already exists, although I do not see a war in the near term by virtue of available data, which constitute a deterrent elements to the Israeli war, which remains a permanent hypothesis.”

Explaining that Netanyahu's claims “fall within the framework of a pressure war,” Khawaja said it is dangerous because it came from the top UN podium, placing them in the framework of “incitement against Lebanon.”

Netanyahu had displayed an aerial shot of Beirut airport with the three alleged rocket sites labeled. Lebanese officials took ambassadors and reporters on a tour of some of the alleged sites on Monday, seeking to dispel the accusations.

Netanyahu derided the tour as "propaganda" and said it skipped a nearby missile factory.

Israel and Hizbullah fought a devastating monthlong war in 2006.