What everyone suspected seems to be true. The explosion that shattered part of Beirut last week was NOT caused by the storage of fireworks or fertilizer, at least according to an explosives expert.
To begin with, here is a good compilation of videos showing the explosion from several vantage points.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1292475515308310530
Note the one clip in the compilation starting at about 1:35. Though obviously the phone survived, I can’t imagine that the person did. Also, the smaller explosions are very plain to see, and will discussed below.
Now an Italian explosives expert, Danilo Coppe, is speaking out about the massive blast that he says was likely a military missile warehouse. Coppe believes the red plume is a sign of lithium metal used as a propellant in military missiles.
“I don’t think there was that amount of ammonium nitrate [2,750 tons] in the port of Beirut, or that there was a fireworks depot. Judging from the videos, it seems more like an explosion of an armament warehouse,” Coppe explains.
There was some AN on site, but as Coppe explains, “there should have been a catalyst, because otherwise it wouldn’t all have exploded together.” Think ANFO. “And then the ammonium nitrate, when it detonates, generates an unmistakable yellow cloud,” Coppe added. It is very unlikely that several tons of containerized AN all went up at once. Conversely, Lithium is a very low-density metal, prone to spontaneous combustion.
US President Donald Trump suggested the incident was a deliberate attack.
“Let me begin by sending America’s deepest sympathies to the people of Lebanon, where reports indicate that many, many people were killed, hundreds more were very badly wounded in a large explosion in Beirut,” Trump told reporters somberly, roughly six hours after the blasts hit Beirut.
“It looks like a terrible attack,” he said.
So it seems that there was an initial explosion, as yet unexplained, which caused the fire and many smaller detonations. Coppe noted that the small explosions seen before the huge blast were not typical of fireworks. Many of the small explosions appear identical, suggesting munitions detonating.
BEFORE AND AFTER
“Ammo makes [explosions] all the same, like those seen before the great blast. I think there was a 1st blast, which may have started a fire where ammo was stored, which then spread to high explosive contained in rockets or missiles.”
“From the videos of the explosion, in addition to the white sphere that is seen to widen, which is air condensation by the sea, you can clearly see a brick orange column tending to dark red, typical of the participation of lithium,” Coppe adds. “Lithium-metal is the propellant for military missiles. I think there were armaments there,” Coppe adds.
Several reports have suggested that rocket fuel was involved. It has been claimed that Hezbollah was using at least one of the facilities to produce precision-guided missiles.
Confirmation of the site being a weapons depot? Al Arabiya: “Initial information: The explosion occurred in a Hezbollah arms store in Beirut Port.”
“Important reminder from September 27, 2018 Nearly two years ago @IDF had exposed a joint Iran/Hezbollah missile project in Beirut.”
SIDE STORY
The Israeli Defense Forces are constantly defending Israel from attacks. Here a few examples.
Their Twitter page features real-time information and updates.
This is the moment when four terrorists attempted to plant explosives near the security fence between #Israel and #Syria last night…
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 3, 2020
…and the moment we stopped them.
We will continue to defend Israel's borders from all enemy threats. pic.twitter.com/bQPGPiJFlg
Follow-up
