Journalists in Teir Felsay: Hizbullah Banned Us from Entering, We Saw Trucks Going In and Out
As a video war erupted between Israel and Hizbullah against the backdrop of the Teir Felsay explosion – with Israel claiming that Hizbullah members were removing a huge rocket out of the house where the blast occurred and Hizbullah stressing that the projectile was just an iron gate – the U.N. awaits a joint report by UNIFIL and the Lebanese army regarding the incident.
Meanwhile, questions were raised about the uncertainty surrounding the issue.
Hizbullah has produced and aired a video tape which contradicted Israeli claims that Hizbullah fighters were removing dozens of rockets out of the house of Hizbullah member Nasser Issa after an explosion ripped through his garage.
The video segment aired on Al-Manar television Tuesday evening showed an door and some furniture being removed from Issa”s house in Teir Felsay.
The Israeli army had earlier showed a video in which what were said to be Lebanese militants are seen removing dozens of rockets out of Issa”s home after the blast. Army spokeswoman Avital Leibowitz said the video was shot by an unmanned drone.
He said the video showed militants removing the rockets in two trucks before allowing in U.N. investigators. Also removed was a particularly large piece of equipment that could be a large rocket or a type of launcher.
Pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat asked whether the explosion was deliberate or just an accident or the result of an error.
"Some may say it was on purpose or just a technical error, while others say something went wrong during the training of Hizbullah members on certain weapons," wrote Asharq al-Awsat.
Well-informed sources told the daily that anyone seeking to look for the truth of what happened in Teir Felsay will not be able to do so because Hizbullah "has the ability to evade the Lebanese army and UNIFIL."
Asharq al-Awsat quoted journalists operating in southern Lebanon as saying that Hizbullah sealed off the blast scene in a security dragnet the minute the explosion took place around 8:30pm Monday and banned anyone from entering for more than 3 hours.
The journalists said that during that time they saw trucks, cars and equipment, in addition to ambulances, going in and out of the blast scene.
The journalists said that during that time they saw trucks, cars and equipment, in addition to ambulances, going in and out of the blast scene.
Hizbullah, however, stressed it was the Lebanese army who imposed the security dragnet around the explosion site.
"No one was denied entry," Hizbullah MP Hasan Fadlallah told Ashar al-Awsat.
Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon”s spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters in New York that the United Nations was waiting until all the facts are out before passing a judgment.