Netanyahu: Lebanon lying about holding secret missiles

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday accused Lebanon's Hezbollah of "lying" to the international community about its holding secret missiles.

"Hezbollah is blatantly lying to the international community," Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office.

It lied by using "a false propaganda tour held by the Lebanese foreign minister," he said, referring to a tour of 73 foreign envoys and journalists organized by Lebanon's Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil on Monday.

Bassil "took ambassadors to the football field, but refrained from taking them to the underground missile production plant that is right next to it," the hawkish Israeli leader noted.

Lebanese security forces stand guard at Al-Ahed stadium in Beirut's southern suburbs as Lebanon's foreign minister (back-C) gathered ambassadors near Beirut international airport, October 1, 2018. /VCG Photo

Lebanon's Foreign Ministry convened foreign envoys to disprove Netanyahu's accusations during his address to the UN General Assembly on Thursday that Lebanon holds missile sites near Beirut's airport.

Local media reported that Bassil rejected the allegations, saying Israel was seeking to "justify another aggression" with false accusations of missile facilities belonging to Hezbollah.

The last full-fledged war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah took place in 2006.

(Top image: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, US, September 27, 2018. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency