800 ‘Israeli’ Layoffs as Hezbollah-Threatened Ammonia Tank Closes, Employees Protest

Local Editor

Around 800 employees will be laid off in the court-ordered closure of a major ‘Israeli' ammonia storage facility previously threatened by Hezbollah, Haifa Chemicals' owners announced Wednesday.

With court-order's closure entailing layoff of the 800 employees, enraged workers blocked roads, litfires outside factory premises, and called on Environmental Protection Min. Elkin to intervene.

The head of US-owned business, Jules Trump, told Zionist media the company was dismissing 800 workers in two plants that processed the ammonia.

"We have lost hundreds of millions of shekels [tens of millions of dollars] in recent months because, contrary to the promises of the government, there is no alternative solution on the horizon," he said.

The ‘Israeli' Supreme Court last week confirmed a ruling ordering the closure of the 12,000-ton facility located in the northern ‘Israeli'-occupied city of Haifa, giving the company until September 18 to empty it completely.

The ruling brought to an end a years-long legal battle over the site.

Settlers and environmentalists had been warning of the risks of an accident or explosion at the container in the densely populated occupied city.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in 2016 that a missile strike on the tank would have the effect of a "nuclear bomb," increasing calls for its closure.

As Hezbollah targeted Haifa in an the ‘Israeli' 2006 war on Lebanon, Sayyed Nasrallah echoed warnings from experts and activists citing ‘Israeli' media that "tens of thousands of people" would be killed in case the container was struck.

Ammonia, used in fertilizers, is poisonous to humans.

Haifa Chemicals sells some of the ammonia that the group imports to chemical plants, weapons companies and wastewater treatment plants.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team