WHAT (AND WHO) WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE COLOSSAL EXPLOSION IN BEIRUT?

A few days ago, one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions in recorded history occurred in Beirut, Lebanon. It has been attributed to a “fertilizer bomb” explosion involving an ammonium nitrate stockpile stored at the port, but that is so far only a preliminary conclusion. The evidence from the location where the explosion originated has been atomized, so I don’t know if we will ever know the full story about what all exploded and what ignited it; however, some conclusions can be drawn and proposed. I think there is more here than has been revealed, and this post will examine those possibilities.

To begin with, how did a massive amount of potentially-explosive fertilizer get stored in a Beirut holding area…for years without being moved? Let’s establish how that happened before we examine anything else. Years ago, a Russian-owned ship with this explosive cargo apparently ran out of financial backing just as it arrived in Beirut’s port (first link). Beirut is in Lebanon, and Hezbollah–a terrorist entity backed by Iran, effectively monitors and controls whatever happens in Lebanon. Isn’t it “coincidental” that of all the ports in the world, this Russian ship gets “impounded” in the one port where its explosive cargo can fall under the control of Hezbollah–which shares Iran’s goal of wiping out the state of Israel. We will have more to say on the likely Hezbollah connection to this blast later, but first let’s examine the colossal extent of this blast.

The second link, third link, fourth link, and fifth link offer varying perspectives on this blast and its aftermath from diverse media sources. Some show the same stunning video sequences of the fire at the dock followed by an instantaneous concussive shock-wave blast and a mushroom cloud, but some of these links offer unique angles on this blast. There clearly were red flashes going off inside a smoky region just before the huge blast occurred. These red flashes appeared to be fireworks or ammunition “cooking off” inside the smoky region before the entire dock erupted. When the main blast happened, it devastated the entire city of Beirut. It wrecked the docks, left an immense crater where there was once solid ground at the port, and knocked out windows 6-15 miles from the blast site (the links vary in their reports). Later accounts have shown a city that may be unable to ever recover. Lebanon was in bad shape before this explosion occurred and only international support on an immense scale can put the city back together. With the entire world being economically damaged by the coronavirus lock-downs, the nations may only be able to offer humanitarian aid for now. I did see an interview on TV with an explosives expert from a New Mexico University who commented that the reddish hue to the explosion was caused by ammonium nitrate particles on the upper level of the explosive cloud that was hurled upward by the blast before they could explode. If true, then it means the blast took place under the ammonium nitrate being stored at the dock. For readers who want a more in-depth examination of the aftermath of the blast on the city of Beirut, I’ve included the sixth link–a lengthy English-language version of an Al Jazeera documentary about the blast.

What is truly amazing is that the concussive wave of the blast was so powerful that it was not only heard but felt in Cyprus some 140-180 miles away! That means a truly breathtaking explosion occurred in Beirut. Given the mushroom cloud, the depth of the crater and the power of this blast, I’m sure some nations and NGOs surely must have used Geiger Counters to determine if the blast site was radioactive–which would be the case if a small tactical nuclear weapon exploded at the dock–setting off the ammonium nitrate as well. Toward the end of the Cold War as the Soviet Union imploded, there were many reports of “suitcase nukes” that may have fallen into the hands of terrorists. Hezbollah would love to have obtained such a weapon. So far no scientific or national testing lab has reported that radioactivity was not detected at the site…and that does bother me a bit. However, I think what we do know about this blast argues it did not have to be nuclear to cause such damage. The seventh link reports that President Trump said some of his generals indicated to him that the blast was caused by a “bomb” or an “attack.” Secretary of Defense Esper backtracked from that opinion, but the reports indicate that the Pentagon has mixed opinions about the nature of this blast.

There is no question that the blast was caused by a “bomb;” the real question is what caused it and was it an accidental or intentional discharge? Let’s dig deeper into a possible non-nuclear explanation. It is no secret Iran wants to “wipe Israel off the map,” and that Hezbollah and Syria are their allies in trying to accomplish that goal. Iran has supplied Hezbollah with so many rockets and missiles that it has been estimated that Hezbollah has 100,000-150,000 missiles and rockets to use against Israel. Israel has developed sophisticated defensive weapons systems to intercept rockets, missiles, and even mortar rounds, but could Israel knockdown over 100,000 rockets and missiles if fired in a single attack?

The eighth link is a report citing a former CIA operative whose analysis of the blast indicated that the ammonium nitrate stored at the port “was not responsible for the second blast.” His view is that military munitions and propellants were to blame. The link also reports that Hezbollah essentially controls the Beirut port so it was Hezbollah which decided to keep the ammonium nitrate stored there. I would like to make the observation that if fireworks really were stored at the same site, fireworks have gunpowder and fuses and Hezbollah may have been trying to make improvised fuses to ignite ammonium nitrate terrorist bombs that they wanted to smuggle into Israel. It is also reported that circa 137 people died in the blast and that thousands were wounded and 300,000 were left homeless. Are there any reports that Hezbollah had “military munitions” stored at that same underground site at the Beirut dock? The answer is yes. Two years ago in 2018, Israeli media reported that Iran and Hezbollah were building major weapons factories in the Beirut area. These factories were intended “to convert regular missiles into precision-guided ones.” In other words, just as “dumb bombs” can be converted into “smart bombs” by adding a new guidance system to them (a process used by the US military for years), Iran and Hezbollah were in the process of adding guidance systems to these missiles so they could more precisely strike Israeli targets in a future war. The 2018 article (ninth link) also revealingly noted that one of these Iranian/Hezbollah weapons facilities was located underneath the Beirut dock! A 2019 story from Reuters reported that the Israeli Ambassador to the UN said that so many Iranian munitions were being shipped to Hezbollah in Lebanon that Beirut was now the “Port of Hezbollah” (tenth link). That same link reported the Iranians denied such reports, but Iran is supplying so many weapons to Syria and Hezbollah via land and air routes (and Israel has often been striking at them in Syria) that it makes sense Iran would use maritime shipping routes to supply Hezbollah with military munitions as well.

In a telling assessment, the eleventh link cites an Israeli analyst that the Beirut blast was different than a simple ammonium nitrate blast because it “occurred in at least two stages (emphasis added).” The link also includes the judgment that Lebanon is controlled by Hezbollah and that Lebanon is now merely “the rotting corpse of a state.” I’ve included “before and after” aerial photos of the blast site after the links below for the reader’s information. The comparison between the two views is striking! The first shows a functioning port city with dock facilities and merchant ships. The second shows that a huge crater now exists where once port facilities stood on dry ground. Based on the heights of the superstructures of nearby ships, it is clear that a distance equal to several stories of a large building has evaporated and that the Mediterranean Sea has rushed into the crater’s void. It is also clear that the water in the crater is also several stories deep based on what can be seen around its edges.

This is my current opinion of what happened based on the above information. I think that Hezbollah has been storing the Russian-supplied ammonium nitrate in that dock area for years to use it as a source for making terrorist bombs. I also believe that Hezbollah had a subterranean factory at that port site for converting unguided Iranian missiles into more-accurate guided missiles to fire at Israel in a future war. It was reported that this factory was under construction two years ago, but I think it was in operation when the blast occurred. Something went terribly wrong and the weapons/munitions factory and the ammonium nitrate supply both blew up with unimaginable power. The intensity of the blast offers strong evidence that many military munitions simultaneously blew up as did the ammonium nitrate in at least a two-step explosion. The normal people of Lebanon ought to be furious at Hezbollah, Iran and their own ruling elites. At this point, a question is begged: Did Israel arrange for this blast to occur to take out these Iranian/Hezbollah weapons and bombs intended for future use against Israeli targets? Israel has denied any involvement and has even offered humanitarian aid. Give Iran’s and Hezbollah’s stated desire to destroy Israel, such Israeli preemptive action would be justifiable. However, I think this was an accidental explosion. If Israel was to launch a preemptive strike, it would logically have been at the time Hezbollah began deploying the upgraded missiles from the Beirut port to their launch sites in Southern Lebanon. The missiles posed no immediate threat to Israel as long as they were not yet mated to their launch assemblies.

I see a possible biblical explanation for this immense blast which surely has dramatically set back Hezbollah’s invasion/attack plans against the Israelis. Undoubtedly, some of Iran’s and Hezbollah’s best missile and rocket scientists and technicians died in this blast and their skills were irreplaceable. The Bible’s key latter-day prophecy in Ezekiel 38-39 identifies Russia, China and Iran as key allies in a “Gog-Magog” alliance that will eventually attack the entire western world (of which the Israelis are a part) which sets World War III in motion at the very end of our age (Revelation 19:11-20:4 is a parallel prophecy). So a few years ago, a Russian ship full of material useful in making terrorist bombs gets “seized” at the Beirut port and its deadly cargo quickly comes under Hezbollah/Iranian control. I don’t see this as a coincidence. Iran and Hezbollah also build a subterranean secret missile-upgrading factory at that same port site. A few days ago, the entire not-so-clandestine operation goes up in a cataclysmic explosion. I see three possible causes: The first two is that either an accident caused a chain reaction of events that led to the entire complex of sites detonating or the Israelis somehow did it in a secret operation. Knowing the dangerous nature of the explosives and weapons stored at that Beirut port site, Hezbollah and Iran must have gone to extreme measures to ensure safety and the non-intervention of Israeli agents.

Allow me to suggest a third possibility exists. The Creator God of the Bible is (and always will be) the main “player” in world geopolitics in spite of his invisibility. God assures mankind he will intervene to make sure his prophecies get fulfilled (Isaiah 41:21-26, 44:9-10). He has already arranged modern world politics so the alliances prophesied in Ezekiel 38-39 are already largely in place. Zephaniah 2 is one of the primary proofs that the Bible’s latter-day prophecies are the result of divine inspiration. It foretold that just before the end of our age, the Jews (Judah) would once again have an independent nation in the old Promised Land which would include the city of Ashkelon and the coastal region of the Mediterranean Sea (Zephaniah 2:1-7). In 1948, the Jews fulfilled this millennia-old prophecy when the modern Jewish nation of Israel was founded which included the Mediterranean Sea coastal region and the city of Ashkelon. It is God’s will that this Jewish nation will not be destroyed or “wiped off the map.” Zechariah 12 and 14 make this quite clear. Zephaniah 2:8-11 record God’s anger at the efforts of the surrounding peoples to erase Israel’s borders and harm or remove the Jewish/Israeli people from their historic land. God promises to make the Israelis’ enemies like Sodom and Gomorrah and be “terrible” unto them. Maybe God just did exactly what he said he would do via the Beirut explosion. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed in a huge fiery blast. The Beirut port and much of the city was just destroyed in a titanic blast. Much of the city may not be rebuilt in this age because the damage is so extensive and costly. The Bible is full of examples where God caused empires and kingdoms to rise or fall, and God has also lifted up, cast down and/or terminated leaders that were pursuing policies opposed to God’s revealed prophetic will. God says “I change not” (Malachi 3:6). Just because God and his angelic kingdom is invisible does not mean they are not actively involved in world affairs. If you do not believe in this possibility as an explanation for the blast, then you are left with the inevitability of the first two options being the logical explanations. Keep in mind one fact: Just because this destruction of Hezbollah munitions and explosives works to Israel’s advantage does not prove Israel did it.

For more in-depth information of the Bible’s prophecies on the above topics, please read my articles, Are We Living in the Biblical Latter Days?, Four Reasons the Jews are Judah, The USA in Bible Prophecy and What Ezekiel 38-39 Reveal about a Future World War III.

WHAT (AND WHO) WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE COLOSSAL EXPLOSION IN BEIRUT?

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