![Former Lebanese Interior Minister and current MP, Nohad Machnouk in Beirut, Lebanon on 8 May 2017 [Ratib Al Safadi/Anadolu Agency]](https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/20170508_2_23552400_21867677.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&quality=85&strip=all&zoom=1&ssl=1)
Former Lebanese Interior Minister and current MP, Nohad Machnouk, has become the first senior Lebanese politician to blame Israel for the blast at Beirut Port last week.
During a press conference, Machnouk said Israel was “clearly” responsible for the huge explosion which has killed over 200 people and wounded thousands.
“This operation in Beirut was carried out by Israel in a clear and explicit manner,” Machnouk said. “It is clear we are looking at a crime against humanity, and therefore no one dares to claim responsibility for it.”
The high-ranking politician served as Lebanon’s interior minister in 2014 and again in 2016. He is a member of ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Future Movement, the country’s Sunni bloc and opposes the Hezbollah movement. In the aftermath of the explosion, he said:
“This is the first time since the Phoenician era that we don’t have a port in Beirut.”
READ: Ex-Israel MK declares Lebanon blast as ‘gift from God’
At the press conference, Machnouk went on to describe Lebanon as a “politically occupied country”, urging Hariri’s supporters to declare political resistance to liberate Lebanon from the “occupation”, in reference to Hezbollah which also has representation in parliament, but is the most powerful armed entity in the country.
Hezbollah leader Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah has rejected accusations that the movement had used the warehouses to store weapons and as with his ally, President Michel Aoun, has not ruled out the possibility of sabotage but both have stopped short of blaming Israel outright. Israeli officials have also denied involvement.
![Lebanon will rise up from its ashes - Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]](https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Untitled-Artwork-scaled.jpg?resize=933.5%2C583&quality=85&strip=all&zoom=1&ssl=1)
Lebanon will rise up from its ashes – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]
If Israel were to be determined responsible, Asia Times reports, it would necessitate an equivalent reply from Hezbollah, which would lead to a devastating war which is not in the interests of either side. Laying blame on Israel would also lead to further investigations into what exactly was being targeted, and raise questions for all Lebanese factions, including Machnouk’s, as to how they allowed the port to store such a large stockpile of weapons-grade ammonium nitrate.
READ: Israel uses Beirut blast pretext to change mandate of UN force in Lebanon
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What is fascinating about the words of Nohad Machnouk is that in addition to being a Journalist he is also a member of and an MP representing Lebanon’s “Future Bloc” or Future Movement in the Lebanese Parliament. Future Bloc is the Sunni Political Party led by Saad Hariri, son of the assassinated Rafiq Hariri and Machnouk is the former Lebanese Minister of Interior and Municipalities. He would therefore have some not inconsiderable knowledge of the Port of Beirut, how it operates and who runs the Port given that his Political Party is thought to exert control over the Port facilities!!
What the affect will be of Machnouk’s words is unknown but I believe it shows a gradual dawning among Lebanon’s Political Classes that they cannot keep the truth from emerging for very long!
Escobar with his usual insightful take on the geopolitical situation. (I’d link to the primary source, AT, but you need a subscription.) https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/escobar-battleground-beirut-western-colony-or-back-east
Looking more & more like it was no accident. We want some dirt or sand samples from the crater to be analysed. We want more proof of what happened.
Chask: The Satanic Talmudic cult rules this earth by our support {yes me] either directly or indirectly. There are no democracies only rule by Wailing Wall Street, Those Lebanese playboys who drive around Beiruts streets in Maserati’s and Lambo’s mocking the poor whose countries finances have been looted and devalued by Wall Street are the reason for enslavement. Love and compassion and selflessness and a return to Nature instead of greed and self glorification and materialism is the only way to defeat these demons.
The ‘Zio-Rothschild International Financial CRIME Syndicate’ has established, created, ‘CENTRAL BANKING’, as their TOOL/WEAPON, with that ‘Creature’, they have Enslaved Mankind! Abolish ‘Central Banking!’
Our sympathy to all those who have suffered this massive blow. The level of hate – for Israel and those in the West who participated in this – has just gone through the roof. These “brood of vipers” chose to worship Satan from the time of Christ and are humanities number one enemy. They are now working hard in the powerful nations and have partly succeeded to corrupt their leaders to a point where in most Western countries Truth and law and order have been pushed aside in order to bring anarchy, division and war forward. Is Israel worth it? Are we to destroy this planet because of this Satanic Talmudic Cult?
Nohad Machnouk: “This operation in Beirut was carried out by Israel in a clear and explicit manner,” Machnouk said. “It is clear we are looking at a crime against humanity, and therefore no one dares to claim responsibility for it.”
“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.” ― Abraham Lincoln
WHO in their right minds in Israel, thought this to be a good idea?
This EVIL act, is an act of desperation, by Israel. It shows how weak Israel really is…
Condolences, to ALL those who have suffered in Lebanon.
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