ISRAELI UAV FOOTAGE OF EXPLOSION IN LEBANON

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEL AVIV 002256 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/14/2019 TAGS: PREL LE SY UN IS SUBJECT: ISRAELI UAV FOOTAGE OF EXPLOSION IN LEBANON Classified By: DCM Luis G. Moreno, reasons 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (SBU) On October 13, the Israel Air Force publicly released video footage taken by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) shortly following the October 12 explosion of an apparent arms cache in the Lebanese village of Tayr Filsi. The IAF UAV footage show Hizballah operatives removing rockets and other weapons from the site of the explosion, loading the arms on trucks, and transporting the arms to an alternate storage site in a nearby village. The UAV footage also shows the arrival of UNIFIL and Lebanese forces only after the transfer of the arms from the explosion site. The UAV footage was featured on Israeli television news broadcasts the evening of October 13, along with clips from Lebanese television interviews of local residents. ¶2. (C) An additional presentation to the DAO by the IDF's Military-Strategic Information Section noted that the exploded arms depot was a Hizballah military facility, and represented yet another "manifestation of ongoing Hizballah violations of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, in particular the prohibition to transfer weapons into Southern Lebanon." According to the IDF, the explosion took place in the house of a senior Hizballah member in Tayr Filsi, approximately 15 km east of Tyre and south of the Litani River. The IDF notes that Hizballah transferred the weapons in the exploded arms cache to a storage facility in the village of Dir Kanoon al-Nahar, located 3 km from Tayr Filsi. ¶3. (U) Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gabriela Shalev filed a complaint October 13 with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council, noting Hizballah's continued violation of UNSCR 1701 by storing weapons south of the Litani River while using civilians as human shields to conceal the arms. She noted that "... weapons are being transferred, and now an arms depot has blown up in the heart of a village." Referencing the UAV footage, Shalev stated the evidence proves what the GOI has "been saying repeatedly." According to Israeli press reports, Shalev accused Lebanese army officials of deliberately ignoring Hizballah's attempts to build infrastructure south of the Litani River, and demanded UNIFIL launch an immediate investigation. ¶4. (U) In interviews with the Israeli press, Israeli President Shimon Peres stated that Hizballah is "turning Lebanon into a powder keg," and that Hizballah -- and not Israel -- is "endangering the Lebanese, just as Hamas endangers the Palestinian people." Minister Benny Begin pointed to Lebanon's inability to form a government four months after the June elections as one reason why Hizballah continues to hold a veto power while successfully rearming. He asserted that due to the failure to enforce UNSCR 1701, Hizballah now has a stockpile of 40,000 rockets and missiles supplied by Iran through Syria. Begin pointed to Iranian patronage of Hizballah via Syria, and suggested Saudi Arabia may be deferring to Syria on Lebanon following Saudi King Abdullah's visit to Damascus. CUNNINGHAM