IDF reveals: Hezbollah killed individuals who threatened to expose its involvement in the Beirut Port explosion

IDF spokesperson in Arabic Avichay Adraee posted to X on Tuesday, publishing that the IDF has revealed how Hezbollah’s Unit 121 eliminated several individuals who threatened to expose Hezbollah’s involvement in the Beirut Port explosion of August 2020. 

The report uncovered that Hezbollah’s Unit 121 assassinated four Lebanese public figures—out of concern that they would expose that the August 2020 Beirut Port explosion was caused by the storage of ammonium nitrate used by Hezbollah. 

The individuals eliminated were officers in the Customs Department and journalists who had pointed to the link between Hezbollah and the explosion.

One such individual, Joseph Skaff, who served as the head of the Customs Department at the Beirut Port, was thrown from a great height to his death by operatives of Unit 121 in 2017, following his request to remove Hezbollah’s ammonium nitrate from the port. This nitrate was what ultimately led to the explosion.

Another Lebanese casualty, Mounir Abu Rjeili, who served as the head of the anti-smuggling unit in the Customs Administration, was stabbed to death by operatives of the Hezbollah unit in December 2020, following information he provided about the link between Hezbollah and the explosion at the port.

Joe Bejjani, a photographer who was among the first to document the explosion site and was employed by the Lebanese Armed Forces to assist in the investigation, was shot to death in his vehicle in December 2020 by operatives of the Hezbollah unit, who also stole his phone before fleeing the scene.

Lastly, Lokman Slim, a political activist and journalist who frequently criticized Hezbollah, was also shot to death in his vehicle in February 2021 by operatives of the Hezbollah unit, shortly after he accused Hezbollah and the Assad regime of causing the explosion in an interview.

In all four cases, Hezbollah denied its involvement in the murders, and the investigations into them were not completed. These cases join the eliminations of Rafik al-Hariri and Elias al-Hatzrani that were previously revealed, as well as a long list not yet revealed to the public, the post stated.

"Lebanese civilians have clearly expressed that they will not allow the Hezbollah terrorist organization to continue oppressing and harming them. In parallel to the actions the IDF is taking against the organization’s attempts to rebuild itself, it will continue to expose Hezbollah's brutal actions against the Lebanese public," the IDF spokesman concluded in the post.