Atwan: Is Beirut Airport under Israeli control?
Regional affairs analyst Abdel Bari Atwan, in his new article in the electronic magazine Rai al-Youm, referred to the recent developments at Beirut Airport and, noting that the recent action of the Lebanese government in preventing the landing of Iranian planes is in line with surrendering to the Zionist regime, wrote with sarcasm and mockery: We did not know that Avichay Idraei, the Arabic-speaking spokesman for the Zionist regime’s cabinet, was the current ruler of Beirut International Airport, because the Lebanese Ministry of Employment and Transport immediately agreed with his warnings about preventing the landing of two Iranian planes.
Atwan noted that this is not the first time that the Lebanese government has shown shameful behavior. About 42 days ago, in the same regard, Lebanese officials carried out a full and provocative search of an Iranian plane, most of whose passengers were Lebanese, and that incident was also carried out after similar threats from the Zionist regime.
He called the Lebanese protests and marches against this unprecedented action natural and a necessary reaction, and stated that although he does not approve of violence and road closures, these reactions were proportionate to the despicable provocations carried out by the Lebanese government.
This expert on international affairs called it the right of the Lebanese government to arrest those who called for violence and those responsible for the attack on UNIFIL vehicles, which Hezbollah has denied. At the same time, he raised the question to the Lebanese government and the commanders of the international forces: when the Zionist regime attacked one of the UNIFIL positions in southern Lebanon and, in addition to killing three of their soldiers with bullets, wounded dozens of others, why was there no reaction from them?
The report adds: Another question is why the Lebanese government and UNIFIL forces have not reacted to more than 1,500 violations of the ceasefire resolution in two months, in a situation where on Saturday, Israeli warplanes launched a missile attack on the Ainata area in Bint Jbeil, setting people’s homes on fire and killing several people.
Another question is why the Lebanese army and international forces have not reacted to the presence of Israeli drones and planes that, despite the ceasefire, are flying intensively in the airspace of Lebanon and the capital, breaking the sound barrier?
Atwan further clarified: We do not know what Iran’s crime is in sending aid to war refugees in southern Lebanon? Has the Lebanese government, which has prevented this aid, provided any assistance to the refugees to alleviate hunger and meet their minimum subsistence needs? What have the US, France and other Western countries that are shedding crocodile tears for the Lebanese people, as well as other Arab countries that were very insistent on forming a new Lebanese government, done in this regard?
According to Atwan, these provocations and the surrender of the new Lebanese government to France and America and the arrogance of the Zionist regime, despite the regime’s insistence on remaining in five strategic points in southern Lebanon even after a possible withdrawal on February 18, will definitely lead to the Islamic resistance led by Hezbollah taking action to preserve Lebanon’s territorial integrity and end the Zionist regime’s arrogance in this region and liberate the border strip; just as it happened in 2000 and the July 2006 war.