Lebanon to sue Telegraph for ‘damaging’ reputation of Beirut’s main airport

Lebanon vowed on Sunday to sue British daily The Telegraph over a media report accusing Hezbollah of storing weapons at Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport.

The Telegraph, citing airport whistleblowers, said that Hezbollah was storing huge quantities of Iranian weapons, missiles, and explosives at the airport.

The Telegraph article "seeks to tarnish the airport reputation," Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamieh told a press conference.

He criticized the British newspaper for failing to use reliable sources in its article about the airport.

Lebanon "will file a lawsuit against The Telegraph because its article aims to damage the reputation of the airport," the minister said.

Early Sunday, the Lebanese Air Transport Union called the British media report "lies" and accused the newspaper of endangering airport workers and passengers.

The media report was published at a time when tensions were rising along Lebanon's border with Israel amid cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israeli forces as Tel Aviv presses ahead with its deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 37,600 people since last Oct. 7.