Envoys on tour near Beirut’s airport as Lebanon dispels Israel’s allegations of missile sites

Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil took dozens of ambassadors on a tour near Beirut’s international airport on Monday in an effort to dispel Israeli allegations regarding the presence of missile sites there. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants of setting up rocket factories near the airport and hiding them among civilians. Bassil says his government would not allow rocket facilities near the airport and says Hezbollah is “wiser” than to place them there. Monday’s tour is part of a “counter-diplomatic campaign” to rebut the allegations, which he said could serve as a pretext for an Israeli attack. He urged the diplomats to reject Israel’s “lies,” AP reports. Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in 2006.