BICOM

An official statement issued by the Hezbollah movement yesterday denied any connection between the movement and a mysterious explosion that took place near Sidiqqin, in the southern Lebanese coastal town of Tyre, on Tuesday night. Hezbollah activists cordoned off the area following the explosion, according to media reports, preventing Lebanese Armed Forces personnel from inspecting the area. A team from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is due to investigate the incident.

Hezbollah’s denial of any connection to the incident is not surprising. The movement is prohibited from holding weapons in the area south of the Litani River, according to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701. UNIFIL is responsible, in cooperation with the Lebanese Armed Forces, for monitoring the area and making sure that the provisions of 1701 are adhered to. However, Israel has long maintained that Hezbollah has managed to amass large amounts of weaponry in the area since the 2006 Second Lebanon War. Last year the IDF released details of intelligence showing that Hezbollah had rebuilt its infrastructures within populated areas of south Lebanon, into which UNIFIL patrols do not venture. The explosion near Sidiqqin may well offer the latest indication of substance behind this claim.

Earlier this month, the Lebanese media reported that an Israeli drone had gone missing over Lebanon. Yesterday evening the Israeli media picked up on a report by a US blogger, who wrote that the reportedly missing drone was booby-trapped and had in fact been deliberately crash-landed by Israel, and had caused the explosion in southern Lebanon.