IDF reveals: Hezbollah assassinated four Lebanese officials over fears they would expose terror group's involvement in Beirut blast

IDF Arabic spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee on Tuesday released evidence of the involvement of Hezbollah in the assassination of four Lebanese officials in connection with the 2020 Beirut port blast. 

Adraee posted information showiing that Hezbollah's Unit 121 had assassinated four Lebanese public figures, fearing they would reveal evidence that the explosion at the port of Beirut in August 2020 was caused by the storage of ammonium nitrate belonging to Hezbollah. 

The Iran-backed terror group has long been suspected of being behind the killings of the senior customs officials and journalists who had indicated Hezbollah’s connection to the deadliest blast in Lebanon’s history, which killed over 200 and injured around 6,000. 

Joseph Skaff, was the head of the Beirut Port Customs Department. He was thrown from a great height to his death by members of the unit in 2017, before the deadly blast, after he had demanded the removal of Hezbollah’s ammonium nitrate from the port. The material later caused the devastating explosion due to improper storage. 

Waneer Abu Rajili, the head of the Anti-Smuggling Unit in the Customs Authority, was stabbed to death by Unit 121 operatives in December 2020, after providing information linking Hezbollah to the port explosion. 

Joe Bejjani, a photographer who was among the first to document the scene of the explosion and assisted Lebanese Army investigators, was shot dead in his car in December 2020 by unit operatives, who also stole his phone before fleeing the scene of the assassination. 

Lokman Slim, a political activist and journalist known for his outspoken criticism of Hezbollah, was shot dead in his vehicle in February 2021. His death came shortly after testifying in an interview that Hezbollah and the Basher al-Assad regime in Syria were responsible for the explosion. 

In all four cases, Hezbollah denied involvement in the murders, and the investigations into them were not completed. These cases join the assassinations of Rafiq al-Hariri and Elias al-Khatzroni that the IDF has exposed in the past – as well as a long list that has not yet been revealed. 

Speaking in Arabic, Col. Adraee said, “The citizens of Lebanon have clearly expressed that they will not allow the terrorist organization Hezbollah to continue to tyrannize and harm them. In parallel with the actions that the IDF is taking against attempts to rehabilitate the organization, we will continue to expose its cruel actions against the Lebanese people.” 

The Beirut port blast was caused by the improper storage of hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate. It was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in modern history, and lead to the destruction of much of the port facilities.

Local hospitals were severely strained due to the high number of injured. Despite denying any involvement in the blast, Hezbollah repeatedly interfered in attempts to investigate the blast. 

At the beginning of this year, the Lebanese government announced that it was reopening the investigation into the blast, after the weakening of Hezbollah during the war with Israel last year.