Israel accuses Hezbollah of rebuilding military site in Choueifat, Lebanese Army visits site

Israel accused Hezbollah on Wednesday of rebuilding a military site in Choueifat, a southern suburb of Beirut, prompting an immediate denial from the party and the arrival of a Lebanese Army patrol at the site early in the evening.

The Arabic-speaking spokesperson of the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee, shared on X satellite images showing, according to him, "how Hezbollah is trying to rebuild a production site in the southern suburbs while concealing its activity from monitoring mechanisms and lying to the Lebanese." "During a surprise inspection, the construction machinery disappeared, then resumed its activity once the inspection was completed, in violation of the cease-fire agreement," he accused.

The spokesperson stated that "Hezbollah has been attempting, for several months, to rebuild an underground weapons production site in the heart of the Choueifat district, in the southern suburb of Beirut, near a school and under residential buildings, after the site was targeted in November 2024."

This information was allegedly passed on to the monitoring mechanism in early January, leading to a surprise inspection. "But aerial images revealed that Hezbollah, having been informed in advance of the inspection date, removed the construction machinery from the site on the same day, only to return them once the inspection was completed," he added.

The Lebanese Army in Choueifat

According to our information, the Lebanese Army visited Choueifat on Wednesday shortly after 8 p.m., at the site identified by the Israeli army as a "Hezbollah military site." Contacted by L'Orient-Le Jour, the Lebanese Army spokesperson did not respond to our requests for comment.

As calls for Hezbollah's disarmament multiply, a senior official of the party stated to Reuters on Wednesday that the pro-Iranian party was ready to discuss its armament with the Lebanese president if Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon and ceased its strikes.

Discussions on disarmament have intensified since the balance of power was overturned by the war between the party and Israel from Oct. 8, 2023, to Nov. 27, 2024, and the eviction of Hezbollah's Syrian ally, President Bashar al-Assad. Hezbollah emerged significantly weakened from the 2024 war, during which its main leaders and thousands of its militiamen were killed, and a large part of its rocket arsenal was destroyed.