Following the massive explosion in Beirut on Tuesday, archival footage has been circulating that shows that not only did Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threaten in the past to blow up Israel using the same chemicals that caused the Beirut blast, but Hezbollah has been trying to obtain ammonium nitrate through Syria since 2009, The Jerusalem Post reported. Some of the sources were from leaked diplomatic cables.

In 2016, Nasrallah claimed that there are 15,000 tonnes of ammonia stored in Haifa and threatened to cause a huge explosion at the port by igniting the chemicals with missiles – a “nuclear explosion” that could lead to the death of tens of thousands of Israelis and harm as many as 800,000 Israelis.

“The expert added that this is exactly like a nuclear bomb,” Nasrallah said on the video, while laughing. “In other words, Lebanon has a nuclear bomb. This is not an exaggeration.”

In 2017, Nasrallah again mentioned ammonia stored in Haifa, saying on Al-Mayadeen TV that a decision had been reached “several days ago that the ammonia storage tanks must be emptied.”

“Moreover there is a ship that brings the ammonia and distributed it to the Haifa facility,” Nasrallah said on TV. “And I said that the Haifa facility is the equivalent of a nuclear bomb, but the ship that carries ammonia to occupied Palestine is like five nuclear bombs.”

According to the newly revealed sources, Hezbollah has reportedly tried to obtain ammonium nitrate through Syria since 2009, making efforts to take control of the agricultural ministry in Lebanon in order to acquire it. Hezbollah reportedly did manage to bring thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate from Homs.

According to the Post report, Nasrallah’s remarks in the videos indicate that Hezbollah has researched the use of ammonia to “complement” its use of missiles to cause mass death and destruction of infrastructure to its number one enemy: Israel.

It should also be noted that Hezbollah stockpiled ammonium nitrate in the past both in London and Germany.

The storehouses containing the chemicals were discovered by the London Metropolitan Police in 2015, reportedly due to a tip-off from the Israeli Mossad, and the ones in Germany were discovered earlier this year, with the acknowledged help of the Israeli Mossad.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)