Iran-backed Lebanese terror group Hezbollah is rebuilding its military arsenal on Israel’s northern border, as experts warn another war between the two sides could be on the horizon. The latest developments come a year after the US helped broker a ceasefire between the sides.
On Wednesday, IDF spokesman Nadav Shoshani said Hezbollah had committed “a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement.” Shoshani also released a video showing the rearmament, claiming the terrorist group was “operating to recover its assets in Beit Lif village.”
Critics claim that the UN peacekeeping force, UNIFIL, is not fulfilling its mandate to disarm the terror group and that the Lebanese forces are moving too slowly, which has led to continued Israeli actions against the terrorists. The IDF has launched attacks against the group’s infrastructure and operatives in Lebanon on an almost daily basis.
IRAN SMUGGLED $1 BILLION TO HEZBOLLAH THIS YEAR DESPITE US SANCTIONS, TREASURY OFFICIAL SAYS
Hezbollah fighters attend the funeral of their commander Wissam al-Tawil, in the village of Khirbet Selm, southern Lebanon, Tuesday, January 9, 2024. A war of words that has unfolded in Lebanon shows long-standing schisms in the small country surrounding Hezbollah, now heightened by the militant group’s role in the border clashes between Lebanon and Israel and by fears that already crisis-hit Lebanon could plunge into total chaos are dragged along. war. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, file)
A day after Iran-backed Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, massacring more than 1,200 people, Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on Israel.
An attack on Hezbollah was carried out overnight, according to the Israeli Air Force. (Israeli Air Force)
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE HEZBOLLAH AND HAMAS GROUPS IN THE MIDDLE EAST?
Zehavi said: “Both the IDF and Hezbollah are very active. The IDF is very active in stopping the rehabilitation of Hezbollah and Hezbollah is very active in reconstruction. Hezbollah has learned lessons. It has been more problematic to smuggle weapons from Syria to Lebanon. It happens. But the Syrians intercepted weapons.”
She noted that the “Syrian regime is willing to fight Hezbollah to combat arms smuggling. Hezbollah relies more on missile production.”
Zehavi, who lives in northern Israel, said that “almost half of Israeli attacks on Hezbollah take place south of the Litani River. We see a lot of Hezbollah investment in drones, short-range missiles, mortars and anti-tank missiles.”
On Tuesday, prosecutors in Germany launched a trial against an alleged Hezbollah member who “has been conducting an extensive drone program for some time.”
Germany’s federal prosecutor’s office said suspected Hezbollah operative Fadel Z joined Hezbollah more than a decade ago and in 2022 worked as a “foreign operator” for the group’s drone program in Spain and Germany.
Zehavi said the leadership suffered a defeat as a result of the Mossad pageant attack on its commanders. However, she added: “Iran immediately provided Hezbollah with oxygen for treatment to revive Hezbollah.”
Hezbollah fighters carry the coffins of four fallen comrades who were killed Tuesday after their portable pagers exploded in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, on Wednesday, September 18. (Bilal Hussein/AP)
ISRAEL REDUCES IRAN-SUPPORTED HEZBOLLAH TERRORISTS IN SPECTACULAR PAGER EXPLOSION OPERATION: EXPERTS
She outlined Israel’s main defense strategy against Hezbollah. First, the IDF has positions in Syria and Lebanon. “We cannot have civilians on the front lines. The IDF is on top of hills in Israel and Lebanon and can see everything and respond quickly to terrorist activity. This means that when an Israeli woman opens her window and used to see a Hezbollah flag, she now sees an Israeli flag. This gives her a sense of security. This was not present before October 7.”
She estimates that Hezbollah has 50,000 terrorists and 50,000 reservists. “We killed a few thousand terrorists.”
The IDF made dramatic progress in eradicating Hezbollah’s rocket arsenal. “We have downgraded 80% of the missiles,” Zehavi said, noting the elimination of significant numbers of Hezbollah’s highly accurate long-range missiles.
Edy Cohen, a Lebanese-born Israeli Hezbollah scholar, said: “There is no shortage of weapons for Hezbollah in Beirut and Lebanon. Lately we have seen many reports that Hezbollah has received weapons from Syria and that Iran is trying to send weapons using Iranian civilian aircraft.”
Lebanese Hezbollah fighters take part in cross-border raids, part of a large-scale military exercise, in Aaramta, bordering Israel, on May 21, 2023, ahead of the anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000. (Fadel Itani/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
THE NEIGHBORHOODS OF HEZBOLLAH: ISRAELI BORDER COMMUNITY UNDER CONSTANT ATTACK BY TERROR GROUP
He said there is enormous pressure on Hezbollah and that Israel kills a Hezbollah operative every week. Lebanon’s Shiite community wants Hezbollah to take revenge on Israel, Cohen said, adding: “For the Shiite community, Hezbollah is the state.”
Cohen said the IDF is gathering intelligence on Hezbollah’s arsenal and attacking its leaders and operatives almost every day.
Hezbollah terrorists take part in cross-border raids, part of a large-scale military exercise, in Aaramta, bordering Israel, on May 21, 2023, ahead of the anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000. (Fadel Itani/NurPhoto via Getty Image)
He warned that because “Hezbollah said it will not disarm its militia… the big war will come.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
He also noted that Hezbollah has 40,000 fighters and between 15,000 and 20,000 missiles and rockets in its possession, noting that the terror group pays its militia $2,200 a month, while the Lebanese Forces soldiers earn $275 a month and also have inferior equipment.
